How To Survive a Jam — A Starter Pack
by Felicia
How miserable is it being stuck in a jam? Very.
How miserable is it to be stuck in a jam for half an hour to an hour right after class, when you just want to get out and get home as fast as you can? Super.
Being in campus for a long period of time is draining enough, but being in a jam subsequently, that’s just exhausting.
Thus, a starter pack on how to survive a jam is made!
First of all, you’re going to need a company in that car.
We all know, misery loves company. Kidding. But having a company in the car, you can have conversations flowing, and that will prevent you from snoozing off or day dreaming away.
If your passenger is not much of a talker, or is just as drained as you, they can act as your co-driver. If you go into day dreaming mode, passenger can cue the driver to move the car when there’s space.
There are also games that you can play; for example, the number plate game — nowadays we see a lot of unique number plates. A game to see what the number plate spell out: you may see PDL15 roaming around or a high-end TAX1 in front you.
Secondly, prepare an audio file for yourself.
If you won’t be having any company with you, entertain yourself with an audio of your choice. The radio is just redundant sometimes, playing the same music you heard in the morning or never ending advertisements. If you like that, then by all means.
Keep yourself entertained by listening to a playlist that you’ve created, or download your preferred podcast. The podcast you listen to are most likely to talk about the topics that entertain you, for example, my personal favourite is ‘Not Too Deep with Grace’, there also podcast discussing your favourite football team.
Thirdly, appreciate your me time.
Take advantage of the time you have when you are stuck in a jam, have a me time. Me time could mean you processing the whole day, taking into account what just happened. It could also mean you planning things that you want to do — plan your week or your weekend, organise yourself.
Try and absorb some good vibes and try to relax, yes, there’s a lot of stress being in a jam, but if you're stuck in a standstill jam, might as well make the most of it to contribute some time to yourself.
Fourth, snack time!
Who says snacking is unhealthy? It’s unhealthy if it’s junk food, but snacking comes in variations. There’s nuts, chopped up fruits, even chewing gum. Snack away, you need to get rid of that boredom, and what better entertainment than food during a stressing time like the jam? Food is friend, food understands.
But you know, if you have food lying around or that cookie you just bought from Subway… Nobody’s watching, eat away.
There you have it, a starter pack for your sanity in a standstill jam.
