Life Hacks for People Who Live on the Go

There are seasons of life when your car starts to feel less like a vehicle and more like a mobile command center and with school and activities starting for my family, I’m living that season right now!

Maybe you’re a parent bouncing between work, school pickup, practices, and activities. Maybe you’re a road warrior traveling between clients. Maybe you’re a healthcare provider working at multiple locations and moving from clinic to clinic throughout the week.

Whatever the reason, when you spend a lot of time on the road, you quickly realize something: the little things can make your day significantly easier.

I’m a big believer in systems. Usually, I’m talking about systems that make businesses run better, create better patient experiences, and take some of the mental load off a team. But systems don’t have to be complicated SOPs or workflows.

Sometimes a system is simply making sure you always have a protein bar in your purse.

Here are a few things that can make your car, and your life on the go, a little more comfortable.

Turn Your Car Into a Tiny Office

A few years ago, I discovered the steering wheel desk, and it is such a simple concept. When you have 20 or 30 minutes between appointments, practices, or meetings, you suddenly have a workable little desk.

Instead of trying to balance your laptop on the passenger seat or wasting that pocket of time, you can answer emails, review notes, or knock out a quick task while you’re safely parked.

I also like having a notebook and pen easily accessible. Some of my best ideas seem to arrive while I’m driving. Obviously, the goal isn’t to start taking notes while cruising down the highway, but having somewhere to capture the thought once you’re safely stopped keeps those ideas from disappearing.

Prepare for the Tiny Emergencies

If you have children, you know someone always needs a tissue.

Always.

Keep tissues (I love the visor tissue holder), hand sanitizer, and lip balm within easy reach. I also love having small garbage containers or bags tucked into the car doors. It takes almost no effort, but it keeps wrappers, receipts, tissues, and all the other mysterious debris of daily life from taking over your car.

These aren’t glamorous systems, but neither is digging through your purse for a tissue while someone is yelling from the backseat.

Feed Yourself!

This one sounds ridiculously obvious, yet somehow when life gets busy, feeding ourselves can become optional.

Keep a protein-heavy snack in your purse, work bag, or car. Nuts, protein bars, jerky, or another shelf-stable favorite can save you when you’ve been running from one thing to another and suddenly realize it’s 2:00 and lunch never happened.

We expect a lot from ourselves. It’s considerably easier to deliver when we’re not running on caffeine and determination.

Create Opportunities to Reset

Keep a blanket in your trunk.

Maybe you find yourself with 30 minutes between appointments on a beautiful day. Instead of sitting in your car scrolling, take the blanket outside, sit in the grass, work for a bit, eat your lunch, or simply be.

Not every available minute needs to become a productivity contest.

I also picked up a great tip from one of my dental clients: keep a massage or trigger-point ball in your car. Put it between your back and the seat while driving to work out some of the tension that accumulates during a long day.

It’s a tiny bit of self-care built into something you already have to do.

Small Systems Create Ease

None of these ideas are groundbreaking.

That’s actually the point.

We often think improving our lives or businesses requires a big overhaul. Sometimes it does. But often, what we really need is to notice the places where we experience repeated friction and ask:

How could I make this easier next time?

That’s exactly what I do with businesses. We look for the places where things regularly get messy, frustrating, or unnecessarily difficult, and then we create a system that makes excellence easier to repeat. That same philosophy works surprisingly well in everyday life.

A snack in your bag.
A blanket in your trunk.
A garbage bag in the door.
A desk that hooks onto your steering wheel.

Tiny systems. Less friction. More capacity for the things that actually matter.

And when you’re balancing work, family, clients, travel, and everything else life throws into the mix, sometimes a little more ease makes all the difference.