Monday, May 20, 2013

Decision Free Driving



I just finished driving for 2 and 1/2 hours on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.  And the only reason I have the energy to write in this blog right now is because I practiced "Decision Free Driving".

Whenever possible, I drove in the "Decision Free Lane".  That's the middle one.  In the left lane, I have to keep deciding whether to change lanes to let the guy behind me pass by.  In the right lane, I have to decide whether to speed up or slow down to let someone merge.

I drove at "Decision Free Speed".  I went with the flow of the traffic in the center lane most of the time.  I didn't need to constantly judge whether I was risking a speeding ticket.  Plenty of "police bait" kept passing me on my left.

When traffic got very light, I couldn't "go with the flow of traffic".  There was no flow.  Just my car in long stretches.  So what speed should I drive?  I let "cruise control" take over.  Speed limit plus 5 so that, again, I didn't have to think about speeding.

I listened to "Decision Free Radio".  Pandora.  Commercial free music so that I wouldn't feel compelled to switch from one station to another.

The older I get, the more I realize that saving 5-10 minutes per hour by pushing my speed, changing lanes, watching for cops with my foot hovering over the brakes in case I see one is exhausting.  The book on willpower that has been the subject of my last few posts has made it clear that all these little driving decisions sap energy and willpower.  On a long drive alone at night, I'd rather conserve my energy by keeping things simple.

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