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Stuck in traffic? 5 smart ways to reclaim hours lost commuting
19th January, 2026 11:51 AM
Commuting has, over the recent past, grown to become one of the most time-consuming activities. Millions of Kenyans spend hours on the road trying to find their way from their homes to their places of work.
Picture this, a hardworking Kenyan working in Nairobi CBD and has to be at their workplace by 9 am, will have to leave their home at least 1 hour before their intended time of arrival if they are going to get there on time. This person spends at least 2 hours on a round trip. For a 5-day workweek, they spend around 10 hours on the road.
This is a lot of time to be listening to the same music on your playlist or banter radio shows that probably don’t add as much value as they should to your personal life.
Here is a list of tips on how you could turn this time into your personal growth sessions:
Learn a side-hustle skill
In this day and age, the internet is one of the biggest assets that we have been privileged to explore. One could easily learn highly coveted digital skills, coding or even a new language directly from their phones in a matatu. By the time you move from Kangemi to Westlands, you probably could have already gone through two 5-minute modules on apps and tools like Coursera.
Enrol in ‘podcast university’
If you haven’t already found out, not all podcasts focus on banter and small talk about events that have been happening in the course of the previous week. There are many podcasts which capture content that could provide you with ideas on business, politics and life hacks that would contribute hugely to your growth.
The zero inbox morning sprint
Being on your way to the office, don’t wait until you get to the office to start working. You can comb through your inbox and maybe reply to emails offline and leave them ready to be sent as soon as you are able to get to a zone with internet connection.
Become a voice-to-text author
Typing anything in a shaky matatu can be an uphill task, which could hinder your ability to capture your ideas as they are in note form, hence losing your chain of thought. Using apps like whatsapp you can make use of the voice messaging tool and send yourself voice notes of your ideas while in a matatu.
This way, you get to make full use of your brain and keep most of your thoughts in place for when you start to implement.
Plan your ‘Chama’ or personal budget
They say that the quietest place you can get to think about your life and choices is when you are surrounded by people you do not know. Many times, a matatu is that place. This is the time when you can review your M-PESA and bank statements to evaluate your life decisions. You can plan your Friday “Sherehe” budget in a matatu and save yourself from a financial hangover the following Monday.
You may not be able to control the traffic on Mombasa Road, but one thing is for sure: you can control what goes on in your mind. Quit waiting to arrive and start using the journey.
