At this time of the year with Christmas and New Year looming most of us are wondering how challenging the work commute is going to be in 2014, and over the festive period.
Currently the long-term Met office weather predictions have high wind warnings for Christmas Eve and for Christmas Day in the Greater London area. Some areas are already experiencing flooding, with wind and rain set to continue.
We have a few tips for you to ease your commute, and also on how to find jobs that may be a better commute for you.
High-powered commuting and weather apps
The Met Office; and BBC weather both have apps available for Android and IOs. There are also some good weather app aggregators available Izito and WeatherBlink being two that source the latest weather updates from a number of websites and real-time data feeds.
When it comes to commuting through the urban jungle to get to your office apps like the Public Transport London and City Mapper IOs apps and Transit app for Android can help you decide whether to ditch the Met line in favour of the bus. Again as these apps aggregate data they frequently have more up to date information that that which you can see at the bus stop or in the train station.
Make sure you don’t power out
Now we’re not claiming to have passed the James Bond SBS course with flying colours, but we do have some basic urban survival tips for you that might help:
- Whatever the weather always keep a bottle of water with you;
- Ladies, well okay men too, have a pair of shoes that you could give Usain Bolt a run for his money in if needed, you never know when you might get stuck, and those heels play havoc on escalators;
- Ask Santa for a portable or solar powered mobile phone and USB charger, if your letter has already been sent, consider treating yourself;
- If possible take a backup charged battery with you;
- Closing open apps particularly those that use location, and data roaming settings will also save you power;
- Take a hat – you could go for Geek Chic or just a normal woolly hat, but your head loses around 30% of your body heat because, unless you’re cavorting around naked while commuting, the rest of your body is clothed. This means that unless you do the same for your head it leaks heat [we felt we had to explain];
- Take a mac, now some sports retail outlets sell cagoules (for those born pre-1990) or light-weight waterproof coats that fold up really small. You could easily throw it on if it starts to rain; it will keep you warm and dry.
And what you’re really reading this post for…
…How to change jobs for a better commute
In many cases we look for jobs where we know the location well, this means that sometimes we discount a different way to commute. For example: overland train and a bike, rather than all tube, or car sharing versus train and bus. In addition, sometimes we get hooked on a sector, when we have a transferable skill. It really is worth checking transport routes, and costs against location maps and doing a bit of journey planning, what would happen if you went South, not North?
To kick start you with this take a look at these job title, location and sector searches: IT roles in Hampshire, Engineering in Oxford or have a search around for something more suitable for you
