I hate Traffic!

What the heck is the Orange Crush?

Unfortunately I am one of the few people who drive down THIS FUN ROUTE every morning for work. I now check Google Maps on my phone before leaving the house to give me an idea how long I will be stuck on the road. If it’s raining/drizzling, forget about it – its going to be an hour minimum drive tops for a 15 mile trek. But why does this have to directly alter my mood when I start my day... Although, I still do not enjoy driving this route – here are a couple of things that I do to SHIFT my mood in the morning.

Always carry a fully loaded I-pod with NEW SONGS
I never know what mood I will be in driving in the morning. So I keep my i-pod stocked with classical music to hip hop music. Music never fails me.

Listen to an audio book
I cant listen to an actual novel. My imagination isn't really at its peak in the morning - especially when there is a jerkoff pissing me off  rude person on the road. I TRY to supress my road rage by listening to self-help/motivational books. I feel so much more accomplished in the morning listening to them.
A couple of my favorites are:

• The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
• Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
• Lean in by Sheryl Sandburg
• The Success Principles by Jack Canfield
• Get the Edge by Tony Robbins

TIP: You can also check out your local library and burn it into your ipod and borrow an audio book.

Try different routes
There's probably three different freeways (lol California) I can take to head to work and I try to change my daily route whenever traffic allows. I feel like it gives me another side of the city/area I live in. I am not as stressed as just concentrating on the traffic ahead, but focused more on discovering a new cafe or restaurant that I pass by...

Get your workouts out of the way
This will help if there's a gym close by to your work. If not, I buy groupons for Barre classes, Yoga or Bootcamp thats close by my work. I feel like this keeps my energy level at peak during work hours. Plus, I dont have any excuse not working out just because I was tired or stressed out from driving.

If work is flexible, try to come in a little earlier (or a little later)
There's a certain time frame when the traffic congestion builds up. If you have lived in the area or have done this commute multiple times – you would’ve figured out this time already. I can leave my house at 6:50 and be ok - not hit as much traffic, but once I leave after 7am traffic gets congested by then.

How is traffic around your area? What do you do daily to beat the stress driving?