Stressing Out Stress in Lagos
How I made Lagos less stressful for me
Lagos is a small state geographically with a lot crammed into it. Because of its jam-packed nature, getting around fast can be daunting and stressful.
This is most evident when going to work and was one of the reasons I left Lagos for Sokoto back in 2014. Another reason I left was that of the negativity in the air. Everyone on the street always seemed angry or upset at something.
Coming back in 2016, I needed to make Lagos work for me, so I could stay and enjoy what the city had to offer. And that meant finding a way to move around Lagos with no stress in the face of heavy road jams, uncomfortable buses, bad roads, angry drivers and congested walkways.
To hack/solve my problem stressful Lagos, I broke it down into 2 parts:
- Commuting around Lagos
- Negativity in the air
On commuting, I started by studying the different parts of the system (the buses, the roads, the road networks e.t.c.) and I noticed some trends and patterns I could work with.
The trends appeared by observing a few things. I looked at all the possible routes from home to where I worked. I noted the following features of these routes:
- The time for each route,
- The cost for each route,
- The number of vehicles to enter on each route and the ease of entering these vehicles,
- The type of road/path each route had, and the ease of moving through these roads,
- I also noted traffic jam times and periods when specific routes would be free or blocked.
I stored most of this information in my head, as it is quite spacious up there.
Some of the trends I noticed were:
- Kekes are more comfortable than buses, as there were fewer people in my personal space,
- Routes on major roads were more comfortable than roads in-between streets,
- 50 naira note is the most useful note you can have in your wallet,
- Most roads got congested and blocked in the evenings as from 5:30 PM — 6 PM,
- When entering a vehicle where you do not have the exact fare, always ask if they have fare change as you enter. It will save you from major embarrassment and time wastage later on,
- The friendly passengers always get preferential treatment,
- The seats beside the door in a bus are the best, especially the middle row. You get the most airflow, and it is easier to alight from if need be.
I used the trends and planned my routes to wherever I was going, and I started seeing results. I started getting to work more refreshed, faster, earlier and less stressful. I could get to the office every day before 8 AM and be as productive as when I woke up, which is my most productive time. I started getting more money to spend even if my income stayed the same. I got the extra cash from budget gains (extra cash gotten by applying a salary hack I came up with a while back).
For Negativity in the air — the other stress causing factor for me in Lagos, I did a social experiment and it worked. After the experiment, everyone I met seemed more helpful and friendly.
It has been over a year since I came back to Lagos, so far it has been a worthwhile experience.
