Have you heard the latest from Yahoo! News regarding wasted commuting time? 

A new report from Texas A&M Transportation Institute found that the nation lost about $121 Billion in time and fuel costs in 2011 alone.  On average, Americans are allotting one hour for a car ride that would normally take 20 minutes without traffic.  That's a lot of wasted time, energy, and gas – not to mention a crazy amount of carbon dioxide unnecessarily filling our atmosphere. 

Yikes!

The experts suggest “implementing transportation improvements to reduce congestion.”  Well, we at 3Leaf Group have another suggestion.  If you're stuck commuting – necessarily or unnecessarily – simply use you're time wisely.  Spend those minutes toward professional development.  Pop in an audiobook to stimulate your mind.  Learn better communication skills, how to deal with difficult people, tips for transitioning into new roles at work.  Let's change these statistics from "WASTED time spent in car" to simply - “time spent in car”.  If you're using your time in your car productively – by learning something new, expanding your mind, and growing personally and professionally – then you're not wasting your time at all - you're making the most of it. 

Sure, transportation improvements would help.  It's 2013 – time to break out the commuter rocket blaster.  But until that happens – let's turn shield time into productive time.  We suggest listening to professional development audiobooks on your daily commute! 

Check out the full article on Yahoo! News.