There you are: Day after day, driving 3 mph, navigating stop-and-go traffic each way back and forth to work. All the while you listen to some nutty DJ making crude jokes and fart noises between frenzied commercial breaks. For distraction, you plot the colorful demise of the jerk that just cut you off.  These are low-quality, soul-sucking hours you'll never get back. Fortunately, you do have an option: You can transform your commute into a classroom.

Thanks to services like Audible.com, eMusic.com, Amazon, and even your local library, there are a wealth of audiobooks available to fill the otherwise drab drivetime. Depending on the length of your commute, you could get a virtual MBA in no time. On average, you can get through one audiobook per week. Just think how many new neural pathways you could grow dumping 52 audiobooks into your noggin. It's the perfect opportunity to "pick up" those books that you never have the time for.

Of course this isn't just relegated to audiobooks. There are many great podcasts out there as well,  Stack Overflow and .NET Rocks just to name a couple.

So stop wasting time. Get productive, and start your own Commute U.

-- Chad Broadus