7 Tried And Tested Ways To Remain Productive At Work—Despite Manila's Horrendous Traffic!
From working home to putting up satellite offices and making virtual meetings a habit, here are our top suggestions for how to beat the traffic situation, meet deadlines, and maintain your sanity
True or false: commuting to and from work for an hour and a half is a total dream, you take two hours on an average day, maybe three hours if you're a parent who drops of your children to school before heading over to work, and on the most nightmarish of days, four hours is very much a possibility.
In other words, you waste a ton of time on the road braving Metro Manila's traffic, and it's taking its toll on you! You're already stressed out before clocking in, you're too tired to have me time or quality time with your loved ones by the time you get home, and the overall effect of traffic on sleep patterns, mood, and physical and mental health is just one big pile of awfulness.
Raise your hand if you know the feeling of exasperation (think of all the times a bus has cut you in your lane just to beat a red light or when motorcycle drivers are inconsiderate) and just wish a solution might come your way already.
It's tough, we know, especially when you must remain unaffected and productive at work despite the terrible traffic situation you experience day in and day out. (How are you supposed to get in the zone and prepped for a big presentation when all you're worrying about is beating the dreaded morning rush?).
As commuters and motorists who face this on a daily basis, we at Metro.Style have come up with our own ways to battle the problem (because it truly is one!), some of which we practice ourselves and can attest to. To help each other out, we rounded up a list of suggestions that you too can take up on your own, or with your colleagues, human resource department, or managers to create your own methods of working around the metro's traffic issue and ensuring that you arrive at work focused and with a sunny disposition.
Scroll through the gallery below to gather ideas or contribute your own!
Work from home
If your workplace doesn't already have a flexible work from home scheme, do suggest one—everyone in the office regardless of position will thank you for it! Start with suggesting the possibility of working from home once a week. On the other hand, if a policy like this is already in place at your office, now is the time to start taking full advantage of it.
Adjust office hours
Have a sit down with your human resources head and supervisor about adjusting your shift at work to make either later, or earlier, to help you adjust the commuting rush in the morning and in the afternoon. Depending on what your schedule is best suited for, think about exchanging your 8-5 or 9-6pm for a 7-4 or 11-8pm instead.
Establish a satellite office
If you are a boss, you can't fix the fact that there will always be employees who will live miles and miles away from their place of work and be the worst victims of the city traffic situation. What you can do, however, is suggest having a satellite office that will give employees another option for when they need to physically be present at work. Perhaps they can be given the option to go to work in a satellite office once or twice a week to save them from the trouble of commuting to a location far away from them on a daily basis.
More virtual meetups, less physical single-agenda meetings
Talk with your manager or your staff about setting up virtual meetings, either via call or video, to save time on commuting to a venue just for a meeting. If a face to face meetup really cannot be avoided, make sure to lump it in with another agenda to make the ride there worth it.
Stay at home on weekends, too
Practice the art of enjoying time at home during the weekend, Develop a home-based activity with your kids or spouse, order in and dine in your own kitchen, pick up a relaxing hobby, book home massage or mani-pedi services, watch some Netflix while soaking in the tub, or remember the fun in reading a book, take the opportunity to de-clutter closets and get organized for the week ahead—in short, there are tons of things to do over the weekend that don't require you to drive! Other than special occasions and can't-miss events, shorten your list of reasons for having to go out (and add to the number of cars on EDSA or SLEX) on weekends.
Consider other modes of transportation
As much as you can, walk! It's not only good for reducing road congestion, but it's also great for your health and addressing the carbon emission issue everyone should be trying to solve together. Consider walking to and from places you need to be whenever possible (i.e.: walking to the mall from your residence or vice versa on weekends). As for weekdays/working days,organizing a carpool group will surely pay off; it will save you and your companions gas money, lessen the hassle of finding individual parking spots, and again, lessen the number of cars on the road during peak travel times for working Filipinos.
Other employment options
Unfortunately, in extreme cases and until those responsible for fixing city traffic congestion find solutions to the problem, the best thing you can do help yourself might be to consider other employment options closer to home. This is especially true for working parents who sacrifice so much family time because of the hours they spend commuting to and from work, and for those who want to be able to do more during their day besides going to work then going to bed the moment they get home (and repeating the process until the weekend comes!),
Images from Pexels and Unsplash
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