Do you fit round work or does work fit round you? Many years ago some companies started to introduce a brilliant system called ‘flexitime’. Flexitime meant you could clock in and clock out when you wanted so long as you covered your core working week. You could even store up hours and take extra days off. Some other companies have a version of flexitime called ‘max-your-time’ (made-up name), which usually means you work all the hours God sends and don’t take any time off. Where flexitime left offices empty on a Friday afternoon with most staff choosing to do an extra hour here and there so they could take a long weekend, ‘max-your-time’ workers could be seen ordering pizzas at 10 pm and seriously contemplating bringing a sleeping bag to work. There has to be another way.

Your hours

What if you wanted to finish work at 3 pm so you could pick the kids up from school? What if you wanted every other Friday off? What if you could take an extended lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays to play tennis? I know people who have full-time jobs who were able to negotiate all of those scenarios, because they knew the most important rule in time negotiation: give to get.

It’s so much easier to negotiate some flexibility in your working hours if you’re not a ‘clock watcher’. Give a few hours first, then when it feels like you have enough deposits in your boss’s ‘emotional bank account’ ask for the trade-off. All the people in those examples did that by (in order): getting in really early; working until 6 pm instead of 5; and only taking 15 minutes for lunch on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

The trade-off

Life is often about choices. It can be challenging to have a career that involves lots of travelling when you have children. With this in mind there will always be times when you need to trade off the pros and cons for the greater good. A good way to think about it is to ask the classic question, ‘How will I feel about this in 5 or 10 years from now?’ There are few people who will say they’re glad they missed the school play because they were finishing that flippin’ monthly report.

Convenient?

I live nine minutes from my office; it’s a five-mile country drive to the nearest major road then only four minutes along a speedy dual carriageway to our office. Today I decided not to go to the office; instead I went for a long walk, had some lunch and now I’m in my study typing this book while occasionally looking into my garden. At the moment, I’d like to give myself a 10 for convenience.

Last Wednesday I woke at 4.15 am, rushed to get a taxi to the airport, checked in, joined the longest security queue of all time, got on my plane, sat next to the world snoring champion, got off the plane and on to a train. Then into another taxi before arriving at a meeting which lasted for 45 minutes. Then I took a train, a taxi and a walk to another meeting, before heading back to the airport to join the second longest security queue. Only to sit on a plane with a wonderful three-year-old who looked like he was going to be sick for most of the flight, then back into another taxi and home by 9 pm. On that day, the convenience of my working day would be around . . . 2?

I’m lucky; I have very few days like that but I know people who have that kind of aggravation every day. They have to do the work, but it is very inconvenient to do so.

Lemmings

Over a million people in the UK have a commute to their work that takes them more than an hour. Ouch!

Well, you could move closer to where you work? No? OK, I get it, house prices, short-term plans, the wrong schools, etc. You must commute. So let’s make the most of it.

How do you turn this wasted time into priceless pleasure? First question: ‘Are you driving or have you delegated that to someone else like the train driver?’ Obviously, if you are driving to work each day, you can’t read (no, really, you can’t – even in traffic jams!) but there are other things you can do to make your journey fly by.

Here are seven ways to get the most out of your commute

1 Listen to audio programmes – which make you better!

I know the radio is easy, but is it making you a better person or is it just background chatter?

There are loads of brilliant audio programmes on masses of subjects from leadership to loving. Check out www.audible.co.uk (or .com) for thousands of titles on just about everything. If you start now and listen to one title every week you’ll be an expert in just six months. Then you can find a job closer to home and get a pay rise!

2 Be a radio guest

Here’s a fun game to play if you listen to radio shows that have guests. When the interviewer asks them a question, turn down the volume and answer that question. Quite amusing and works best if you say your answers out loud.

3 Drivers – save the planet!

I have a friend who passed the time on his drive home by wanting to break his record (52 mins during term time). It was unlikely that he would do this as his journey normally takes around an hour. So now he plays a different game called ‘save the planet’. Before he leaves for his commute he resets his car’s dashboard computer and aims to beat his average ‘mpg’ for the journey. He’s as competitive with himself as ever but to win he has to drive more economically.

4 Start a conversation, if you dare!

I love the tube. I start conversations with strangers and because I don’t live in the capital I’ve never been taught the number one rule of using public transport in London, which seems to be: ‘Never ever talk to anyone.’ I can’t be blamed for my ‘overfriendly’ behaviour, it’s who I am.

So here’s a challenge for you. What if you were, you know, to talk to someone – there, I said it! First of all, what’s the worst that can happen? No, you won’t get beaten up; the worst is they won’t talk back. But what if they do? What if you meet a really interesting person? It takes a bit of practice to start conversations with strangers but stick in, it’s worth it. Here’s a tip. It’s easier to start conversations with people on the way home, especially on Fridays, first.

5 Read something you normally wouldn’t

We tend to read the same old things and by doing so you associate your commute with this type of reading. Break your pattern and read something that is completely outside your sphere.

6 Sharpen your mind

There are more ways to improve your mental agility than doing Sudoku. By spending 30 minutes a day on puzzles you’ll improve your brain power and waken your mind before a new day.

7 Knit for the needy

Liz knits two hats and four mittens every week during her train journeys. She sends them to Samaritans Purse who distribute them to children who will be feeling the cold this winter.