Listening to Music While Driving to Work (A Great Idea!)

Workday commutes can be long, tiring, and frustrating. In other words, they usually suck. Bad drivers, bad traffic, even bad weather can get us down before we even step foot into the workplace, giving us what my wife would call "negative energy." Driving back home is not always much better...

Listening to music while you drive can help you relax, put you in a better mood, and overall make your commute seem shorter and more pleasant. The music will give you something to focus on other than how frustrating the commute is. It can also keep you awake and focused, in the case of a long commute that can be boring and tiring, to help prevent you from falling asleep behind the wheel.

You can listen to the radio, or your own music. If you choose your own music (which is what I like), you can carry around CDs or cassettes in your car, or you can put music on your iPod and listen to it there. [Click here for information on listening to the music on your iPod through your car stereo]

A good idea is to make a playlist of songs to listen to (either on your iPod or make a CD mix). Songs you like. They don't need to be overly happy songs, you can put some sad songs in there too. Personally, songs that are really "happy" can easily make me more frustrated! And here's another tip, mix it up. No one wants to listen to the same songs over and over and over again.

Here's a small sample of my own playlist that I thought I'd share, if you want some good ideas for songs. I hope you like it!

Under the Bridge - Red Hot Chili Peppers

Californication - Red Hot Chili Peppers

The Show Must Go On - Queen

I Want to Break Free - Queen

Dancing in the Dark - Bruce Springsteen

Hey Ya - Outkast

Start Me Up - The Rolling Stones

What Goes Around Comes Around - Justin Timberlake

Holiday in the Sun - Sex Pistols

Yellow - Coldplay

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John

Roxanne - The Police

Take you There - Sean Kingston

You Had a Bad Day - Daniel Powter (not exactly the happiest song, I know, but it can be nice after a long day)

Of course, those are only the songs that I personally enjoy. Search through those old CD collections and who knows, a once-forgotten CD might become your key to getting through the day.