For most of us, we dread a Monday morning and no doubt thousand of Melbourians felt this way even more the other morning with an accident on one of our busiest freeways. So after I witnessed a car speed past everyone patiently queued, and later someone beeping a motorcyclist who slowly passed - it made me think about how do people cope in these unexpected situations to remain calm?
Some of the following strategies may help:
1) Remember we're all in this together. It is not the driver in front of you that has caused the delay - so remember to be respectful. After all we don't want another accident to occur!!
2) Challenge negative perceptions: Could you appreciate that you are safe and not involved in the accident? Or if you get annoyed with another motorist who speeds past you remember this is not a personal attack and are there other reasons they may need to other than getting to their destination quicker - such as a medical emergency?
3) Play music - who doesn't love hearing their favourite tunes in the car! Plus if you start to sing along this helps to regulate your breathing and reverse our stress response.
4) Can you find an alternative route? Or keep informed with traffic update to help minimise your delay.
5) Accept that you may not be able to do everything you had planned for the day - so this the perfect time to brainstorm how you can reorganise your day so the delay doesn't continue to effect you?
These are just my top 5 - please share what you find helpful in traffic delays...
Tara