When you turn transit into billable time, you make better use of the limited 24 hours we all have access to. Commuting alone can take a large chunk of your time, and daily commutes can add up to over six hours per week. That’s time you can use to your advantage, even taking care of the monotonous tasks that you never really want to do as you go about your working day. So, from using voice dictation for reports to managing e-commerce, here are some suggestions.
Virtual Meetings and Calls On-the-Go
With modern technology, taking meetings from pretty much anywhere isn’t just possible but popular and very easy. You can use commute time to take client meetings, sales calls, and team collaboration get-togethers from a station, bus, or train. As a laptop executive, you can also seek out secure and accessible luggage storage when moving between physical locations to reduce the burden of baggage and ensure your valuables are safe throughout the day.
Turn Transit into Billable Time with Voice Dictation
There are many menial and boring tasks that need to be done, and commuting can be the perfect time to ensure they are out of the way. The average professional spends up to 15 hours per week on emails alone, but dictation apps can help with time management:
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Use memo apps such as Otter.ai to dictate emails and reports while you ride.
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You can also use these apps with note apps to turn voice into readable copy.
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Since content is being transferred between media, you can bill this as work.
Strategy and Planning while Commuting
Everyone has their own way of working and strategies they use to create what they need. You can use commute time to achieve high-level strategy goals such as brainstorming, planning goals, and taking notes from deep thinking. This is an ideal way to prepare your mind and projects for the day or even week ahead, and can even be billed as workable time when framed as consulting and strategic planning for your employer or clients, all while you travel to work.
Niche Platform Freelance Work
One of the easiest ways to use time for billing is by freelancing. Freelancing is popular today for a variety of reasons. The great thing about freelancing is that you can do your job anywhere, especially if you use a computer for creative or technical work. So, you can use commute time for one client meeting while working on a project for another using platforms like Upwork and Fiverr. This is an excellent way to use the limited hours you have by maximizing time efficiency.
Turn Transit into Billable Time with Social Media Management
A study in the UK found that 28% of SMBs are using social media to generate sales far more than any other medium or channel. You can use commute time to make use of social media to grow a small business while on the go, saving office time for mission-critical projects.
Optimize your mobile workflow
Mobile versions of popular social media management (SMM) tools, batching similar tasks together, and pre-downloading content will help you use commute time effectively.
Commit to high-value commute tasks
You can use travel time for high-value tasks such as social media engagement, scheduling content, and performing social listening by monitoring competitors, trends, and brand mentions.
Track your time for accurate billing
Your time is valuable, and you deserve to be paid for it. So it helps to use commute time to track your work time with tools like Clockk, start timers in Toggl, and generate invoices with Plutio.
Commuting can be valuable as an extra time slot, especially if you commute for thirty minutes or more. While traveling to or from work, you can turn commuting into billable time through high-value work, which can be tracked with modern social media management apps and timers.
Joining Online Focus Groups and Studies
There are many ways you can get paid for your time through online platforms, all while pretty much doing nothing. Focus groups and studies will pay for your time, mostly for giving your opinion on a product or service. Most will only require a small amount of time, such as half an hour, which can easily be scheduled for most commutes. When all you have to give is time and get paid for it, it makes sense to use extra travel time for increased income before work.
Transcribe Audio Files and Interviews
One of the most effective ways to turn commute time into genuine billable hours is by transcribing audio files for clients. As a content creator, there could be tons of work that needs to be watched, listened to, and turned into something enjoyable, and this usually takes a lot of time to get through. So, you can use a laptop or tablet to get through this kind of work and directly turn the time you take to travel into standard billable hours as part of your day.
Manage eCommerce to Turn Transit into Billable Time
Online stores and digital products are more popular than ever, with over 8 million sellers on eBay alone. Online storefronts such as eBay and Amazon require a lot of backend work that takes a large amount of time, but you can use commute time to manage inventory:
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Use built-in tools to monitor and check stock levels and reorder what you need.
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Take care of administrative tasks such as emails, social media, and sales reviews.
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Use the time for marketing and content creation for blogs, ad copy, and descriptions.
Create and Sell Virtual Courses
Digital products are trending today, and one of the most popular is virtual courses. There are plenty of good niches for online courses you can craft and sell, but these take time. If you want to make good money from virtual courses, they need to be perfected, but they can be evergreen for ongoing income. However, time is usually against you, and courses can be hard to complete when you also work full-time, but you can use your commute time to draft your courses.
Summary
Virtual meetings and calls on the go are two easy ways to turn transit into billable time that can increase income potential. You can also use this time to manage your social media strategy, and even create and perfect digital products such as online virtual courses you can sell later on.
