Time & Structure

The Journey Job: Your Plan for a Purposeful Commute

Rhema Adelaja · National Champion & 4x DUX · August 2026 · 6 min read

You spend hours travelling each week. That time can feel wasted. This is a plan to turn your commute into a tool that helps you prepare for what is next and recover from what is done.

I remember the bus journey to the track. It was always the same. An hour of scrolling on my phone, watching other people’s lives. Or I would just stare out of the window, my mind empty. Sometimes I would feel a knot of nerves in my stomach. Other times, I would feel nothing at all. I would arrive at training feeling mentally cold. My body was there, but my head was still on the bus.

This journey was a gap in my day. Wasted time. But what if that time is not a gap? What if it is a bridge? A bridge between your life as a student and your life as an athlete. A bridge between the stress of a training session and the calm of your home. To cross that bridge well, you need a plan.

I call this plan 'The Journey Job'. It is a simple idea. On every journey, you give yourself one specific task to do. One job on the way there. One job on the way back. This is how you stop wasting time and start using it on purpose.

The Problem with Wasted Travel

Your schedule is already full. I know this because I lived it. As a student-athlete, you are balancing schoolwork, training, competitions, and a social life. Research shows many of you spend 30 or more hours a week on your sport alone. Finding extra time is impossible. So you have to be smarter with the time you already have.

Your commute is part of that time. When it is unstructured, it can work against you. You might arrive at training feeling stressed from traffic. You might be distracted by something you saw on social media. You might get home still buzzing with adrenaline from a game, unable to switch off and sleep.

An unplanned commute makes the transitions in your day harder. It blurs the lines between your different roles. The journey is the space between who you have to be. That space needs a structure. It needs a job.

Your First Journey Job: Preparation

The journey to training, school, or a competition has one goal. It is to prepare your mind for what is coming. Your body might be sitting on a bus, but your mind can already be on the pitch, in the pool, or on the court. This is about arriving ready to perform from the first minute.

See It Before You Do It

Visualisation is not magic. It is mental practice. Before a big race, I would sit on the bus and run the perfect 400-metre hurdles in my head. I saw my start, I felt the rhythm of my strides between each hurdle, and I pictured myself crossing the line first. I did this again and again.

By the time I stepped onto the track, I had already won that race ten times in my mind. The science on this is clear. Mentally rehearsing your performance can lead to a real boost in confidence and execution. It prepares your brain for success.

So, here is your job. For five minutes of your journey, close your eyes or simply look out of the window. See yourself perform a key skill perfectly. It could be a penalty kick, a perfect tackle, or a smooth tumble turn. Feel what it feels like to get it right. That feeling is what you will take into your session.

Set Your Intention for the Day

Your brain performs better when it has a clear focus. Before a session, give it one simple thing to concentrate on. Do not overwhelm yourself with a long list of things you want to improve. Just choose one.

Your single focus could be:

Write it down in a notebook or on your phone. Many organisations provide helpful goal-setting worksheets, but a single sentence is enough to begin. This simple action gives your training a purpose before it even starts.

Your Second Journey Job: Decompression

The journey home is just as important as the journey there. Its job is completely different. This is your time to decompress, to switch off, and to leave your performance behind you. This is essential for recovery.

If you had a great session, it is tempting to stay buzzing with excitement. If you had a bad session, it is easy to sit there and replay every mistake. Neither of these behaviours helps you recover. To recover fully, you need to create mental distance between your sport and the rest of your life. This journey is how you build that distance.

The Three-Breath Reset

This is one of the simplest and most powerful tools for calming your mind and body. You can do it anywhere, at any time, without anyone knowing. It is perfect for a busy train or a walk home from the bus stop.

Here is the method. Breathe in through your nose for a count of four. Hold that breath gently for a count of four. Then, breathe out slowly through your mouth for a count of six. The longer exhale is key.

Repeat this three times. That is it. This small action sends a signal to your nervous system that the pressure is off. It tells your body it is time to relax. Using your breath in this way is a proven method to lower stress and it creates a physical full stop at the end of your session.

Change the Channel

After creating a physical break with your breathing, you need to create a mental one. Your brain needs something new to focus on. Something that has nothing to do with your sport.

This is about changing the channel in your head. Put on a playlist of music that makes you happy or relaxed. Listen to a podcast about a subject you are curious about, whether it is history, comedy, or science. Call a friend and make a rule to talk about anything except sport.

The goal is to build a clear boundary. When you walk through your front door, you are no longer just an athlete. You are a son, a daughter, a brother, a sister, a friend. This separation is vital for your long-term mental health and, ultimately, your performance.

Your commute is not dead time. It is transition time. With a simple plan, it can become one of the most valuable and productive parts of your day. It can help you arrive ready and leave rested.

This week, your task is to define your Journey Jobs. Choose one preparation exercise for the way there. Choose one decompression exercise for the way back. Write them down somewhere you will see them. Make your journey work for you.