Learning to Drive … at the next level

Earlier this year I got a new car, you know, the people carrying kind to make the school run that much more (un)bearable!

And I’ve been having fun learning to ‘play’ with some of the gadgets that are designed to make driving easier and safer.

I’ve long had access to using cruise control and find it quite useful on long motorway journeys or in speed controlled zones to help me keep within the speed limit.  But this is new - adaptive cruise control! 

With adaptive cruise control the computers in the car ensure that the gap between me and the vehicle in front is a ‘safe’ distance, which means if they slow down, so does my car, when they speed up, within the bounds of the original speed I set, so does my car …. And all I’ve done is make sure the steering is straight. 

Driving in the rush hour I realised that by ensuring my speed remains constant AND a safe gap ahead, I’m able to focus on the exceptions of the traffic, cars pulling out suddenly, traffic conditions, blind spots or bikes coming up suddenly in my rear view mirror.  Essentially, taking some of the stress out of what is a high energy requirement to drive.

It occurred to me that in the same way when you learn how to ‘drive’ your wardrobe with the right colours, the right styles, the right shapes for you then you can focus your attention on other things. 

If anything you choose from your wardrobe is going to work for you, then you need to ‘fine tune’ it for the audience or occasion and if you feel over or under dressed learn how to accessorise it up or down. 

Worst case scenario is that if you do turn up under or over dressed, at least you know you look good, you won’t feel out of place and you may be able to sneak into the cloakroom and adjust your accessories (fine tuning) to help you feel more appropriate. 

Learning to drive your wardrobe takes the effort out of the everyday, enabling you to focus on the exceptions.  

When we go on holiday we have 23 kilos of luggage allowance each but often end up taking 23 kilos between two of us for a week holiday; less stress at the airport, less space required in the car, more space for buying things when we’re away!   It doesn’t matter how much or how little I take on holiday I still manage to bring a certain amount back unworn but within Pareto’s 80:20 principle I ensure I wear at least 80% of what I take on holiday. 

I’m soon off again, me and my two boys, Dad follows later, each with 23 kg of luggage for 3 weeks – I’m half way through the packing process but would place a fairly safe bet on the fact that our luggage allowance will total about 30kg, including presents and the boys’ scooters so that we can go for walks without whinging kids saying ‘I’m tired…’! 

Learning how to ‘drive’ my wardrobe allows me to take the stress out of dressing so that I can use the other tools I’ve learnt to 'cruise' more comfortably!

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