Reduce your stress when driving and arrive at your destination feeling calm
Driving can be a stressful experience these days, especially with many households owning more than one car and the number of vehicles on the road topping the 30 million mark. Driving to work can test the patience of the most sedate person, in particular those who live around congested areas or big cities. Being cut up or tailgated is annoying and dangerous but experts say we shouldn’t get stressed out and certainly shouldn’t get involved in road rage. By approaching the commute with a different frame of mind we can arrive at work rested, focused and not in the least bit agitated.
Here are a few tips we’ve put together at CoverGirl to promote a calmer driving experience. Feel better about your journey by doing the following:
- Get into your car each day with a different attitude. Don’t expect to encounter road rage or difficult drivers. See driving as time to yourself, to listen to music and to think about the day or evening ahead
- Plan your journey and leave early if it will help you to be stress free. Knowing that you’re going to be late because you’re caught behind train gates or a road’s closed can make you feel really agitated
- Play soothing music, this is proven to make you drive in a safer fashion. If you play techno or some heavy duty drum and base, expect your heart rate to shoot up and more aggressive driving to ensue. Play something more mellow or soulful and you’ll be feeling less fired up in no time
- Think about the smell of your car. Forget magic trees, unless you particularly like the smell of pine scented disinfectant. Instead buy a car spray to keep in the glove box. To keep you alert buy a peppermint or lemon scented spray to wake you up or if you need calming down have a quick sniff of a vanilla or cocoa based car spray
- Practise breathing exercises to calm you down. Take a few deep breaths and try to picture the air flowing round your lungs. This is guaranteed to make you feel more alert.
- Don’t get annoyed with other road users. Everyone makes mistakes from time to time, remember it’s very easy to switch off for a few seconds or make a hasty mistake when you’re in a rush. A good tip is to try to imagine you are friends with the other driver, you’ll become much more forgiving if you see the other driver as a person rather than just someone operating a machine
- Say thank you and smile at other drivers, it makes everyone feel better and encourages cooperative driving
- Don’t see driving as a competition. There is no need to push to the front of a queue or be the fastest in the fast lane, speeding and fast gear changes also uses up more fuel and in turn creates more CO2 emissions
So now you know how to reduce your stress levels while you’re driving there’s no excuse not to enjoy the ride. Think back to the good old days when people took the car out for a drive and enjoyed the countryside. The car can be more than a method of getting from A to B.
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