A business owner knows better than anyone how difficult it can be to manage their time and get the most out of their workday. However, you can use your morning and afternoon commutes to eliminate certain mundane tasks from your day-to-day schedule. By using this time to your advantage, you can reduce the stress you’re put under on a daily basis and free your schedule for more important tasks.

Time magazine reports that the average American commuter travels 25.5 minutes to work. This basically translates to 51 minutes the average worker spends on the road; almost an hour of completely untapped productivity. If you’re proactive about how you spend your commutes, you can get time-consuming tasks out of the way before you even get to the office, or better yet, invest in some professional development.

Listen to a Podcast or a Webinar
Concentration while driving is important, especially if you live in a place where the weather causes poor road conditions. Your hands might be tied up by driving, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use your ears to ingest some information while behind the wheel. Listen to a webinar or a podcast about your industry and take some mental notes on how to improve your business. You might just discover something which will help you go the extra step for your consumers.

Carpool with Coworkers
While the lone-wolf approach to your morning commute can be some refreshing alone time, carpooling is a method which helps you and your employees save money and increase productivity. You can even host a meeting while on the go, if you so desire, which relieves the stress on your workday by shifting low-priority meetings away from the workplace. In addition, you and your team can save valuable assets by not spending a ton of money on gas or auto repairs.

Bring a Laptop or Tablet for the Ride
Sitting next to a crazy and/or smelly person on bus to work might not be ideal, but it does give you the chance to pull out your laptop, tablet, or smartphone for some before-work productivity. If you can connect to a decent WiFi or 4G network, you can check your email; if not, you can write up drafts of important documents in your word processor of choice. If your public transportation route is longer than the ordinary commute, all the better. That’s more time to be productive!

Put Together a Daily Routine or Schedule
If you’d rather just go it alone, you can simply plan out your day during your daily commute. Make mental notes of when certain tasks need to be accomplished, and when certain meetings should be held. This saves you the trouble of planning out your day when you first get to the office, allowing you to jump right into the productivity as soon as you get to work.

What are your favorite ways to stay productive during your commute? Let us know in the comments.