Apparently people waste a lot of time in traffic.

In fact at the Going Green conference held recently in California, it was estimated that Americans lose 3.7 billion hours a year in traffic jams.

3.7 BILLION HOURS!

So there has to be a way to make your time stuck in a traffic jam work for you.

First pay attention to your own and others’ safety.

Then give these 5 ways a try:

• Sit back and observe what’s happening in the cars around you. Notice how they’re handling the chaos. Now here’s the trick. What’s there for you to learn about yourself as you watch them.

• Popular wisdom would say, hey you’ve got a little time on your hands. Catch up on phone calls or blackberry emails. No - the better use of your time is to power off all your electronic devices and take advantage of this little temporary escape from the demands of the world.

• If you’ve flown recently, you’ll know that it is now recommended to do periodic exercises to reduce jetlag and deep vein thrombosis. No reason you can’t do some simple stretches in your car while you are waiting for traffic to get moving. Many airplanes offer sample exercises on their websites.

• Here’s a radical idea. Have a conversation with your travel companion. Not what reality TV show did you watch last night, but a meaningful conversation. Maybe something you’ve been wanting to talk about but haven’t found the time. Here’s my favourite meaningful conversation starter: What currently seems impossible, that if it were possible, would change everything?

• Do nothing. Many people tell me that they don’t have a moment to themselves. Well here’s your chance to take some time. Apparently 3.7 billion hours.