How to be Productive While in the Car

I spend many hours every week in the car between commuting to work and driving places for my work.  I used to listen to the radio but as my life became busier and busier I wanted that time to be productive in some way to allow me to relax when I got home.  These are the four ways I try and use the time in my car and all of these ways use my smartphone.

1. Listen to podcasts
The first way I thought about being more productive was to make myself a better person by listening to self-help items on the radio.  I found that it was easier for me to find items that could educate me in a number of different areas.  To load the podcasts onto my smartphone I use iTunes along with SyncTunes (the free version).  I chose podcasts dealing with personal finance (Dave Ramsey and Money Girl), religion (Your Move), and psychology (The Savvy Physiologist).

2. Manage your finances (only as a passenger)
The second way to be productive in the car is to look over your finances.  I use two apps for this process, Mint and Personal Capital.  More information on Mint can be found here.  I categorize my transactions in Mint and look over my investments in Personal Capital.  I can therefore look over my standing financially without using my precious time at home.

3. Manage your to-do list (only as a passenger)
I keep my to-do list in Google Tasks.  When I am on the road using GTasks I can see my Google Tasks for the day and see what I need to accomplish for the day.  On my way home I can reflect on what I got accomplished for the day and move items if they need to be moved.

4. Delete emails you don't need (only as a passenger)
If you are like me you receive way to many emails in one day so one way to reduce the number of emails your have to look through is to delete the ones you know you do not have to read while in the car.

There are many more ways to be productive in the car then what is mentioned here but the point of this discussion is for you to think about what you can get completed while driving or as a passenger so you have time to focus on the important things when you finally make it home.