While we often naturally tend to overstate the importance of what we aim to do as being the key component of a task, sometimes, it's good to take a step back (or sideways), and focus on how we intend to get there. As someone who has always struggled to stay focused on a task for an extended period of time, I've tried various methods over the years to stay on track. I journal (almost daily), I note down when/where/how/why I get distracted and I've been looking into many approaches to reduce these distractions, for example, by cutting out notifications or having focus modes turned on for my devices during peak hours, by setting my phone to grayscale during these focus modes, and by often changing environments. I find that this change of location works wonders for me, especially when I want to write or do some research on a topic. The change can take many forms, of which the most common are working in a cafe, switching to a co-working space instead of the typical home office setup, and for some of us who commute often, working on the train. It is this last one that is interesting to me.
Often, on longer train rides westwards, when going to see friends or family for the weekend, I like to pull up the laptop and focus on a given task. The constrained nature of the train and the fact that I have to commit to that environment for a longer period make it a great environment for focusing on a particular task. They're also generally quite comfortable, with space enough to tackle a laptop comfortably. I know I'm not the only one to see it so, as on every trip, there are many like me who have their work out with them and who use the opportunity to get work done. For me, it's not about maximising efficiency by trying to squeeze every minute of time I can work on a topic, it's about the mental state I am in during a train ride that makes it work in my favour.
But why did I title this page "The Journey is the Destination", when going to see family is not about the work that gets done on the train? In the same vein as deciding to pack my gear to go to the local coffee shop, bakery, or brunch place where others in the neighbourhood tend to work, I like to take train rides at times for the purpose of working on them, changing scenery, and getting out of my routine. Simply put, sometimes I don't take the train to get somewhere but I take the train to be on the train.
In Austria, since late 2021, we have a pretty reasonably priced Klimaticket (climate ticket) which was originally priced at around 3$ a day for the entire year (prices have gone up since the current government reduced its investment into public transit) and which allows a holder to travel within Austria on almost every transit service, be it national railway service, private operator trains (like the Westbahn I am currently writing this piece on), regional trains, light rail, trams and busses. There are a few exceptions of course, such as certain touristic transit lines, but the majority of the network is quite well connected. Currently, I am on a train to Salzburg, having a coffee and working on this post while I continue to look into all the cool apps on the ATmosphere that can drive some creative thoughts. I can enjoy the trip, get some planning done, read some articles that I always push aside, write some analyses, make some progress on a work-related project, or even just finish that audiobook I have a chapter or two left on. Then, I can go for a walk in a different environment and tidy up my thoughts. Today it's Salzburg, meaning I can enjoy the fresh mountain air at the edge of the Alps, grab a bite, enjoy the sun (yes, even in January) and take advantage of the change of perspective that it gives me. It's a two and a half hour train ride, meaning I can still be home in time for dinner and at the end of the day, it will barely feel like I left, but it will have been a much better day than if I were sat at my desk in my office for an entire day. Today it's Salzburg, maybe in a few days it will be Graz, then a short-er hop to Linz a few days or weeks after that.
Finishing thoughts, while the sauce may not fit to every dish, sometimes it is worth it to pick a destination because you intend to enjoy the journey there, as much as if not more than the time spent at the destination.
~ Mihai
P.S. This is a fun first test for a leaflet pub and thanks to for his article https://overreacted.io/a-social-filesystem/ which got me on this rabbit hole of exploring other ATmosphere apps outside of bsky.