Your Car is a Classroom: Learn While You Work

Some drivers scroll through their phones, checking TikTok or Instagram while they wait for rides. 

Not me! I study. I learn. 

I treat downtime like tuition time. Rideshare driving has its limits, but it also gives you something precious: pockets of quiet time. Use that time wisely, and you can change your life. 

The first thing you have to ask yourself is: What do I want to invest my time toward?

For me, the answer has been Day Trading.

I don’t just want to coast through my shift. I want to build something. That’s why I’ve filled my car with the sounds of progress. Trading podcasts. Audiobooks on performance psychology. Interviews with market pros. If I’m not listening to Miles Davis or Led Zeppelin with a passenger in the car, I’m listening to something that feeds my mind. 

That’s how I’ve learned to turn a rideshare gig into a mobile classroom. It’s how I’ve started building a second career while still making money as a rideshare driver.

5 Ways To Learn While You Work

We live in a competitive world. 

The difference between staying where you are and moving forward often comes down to how you use your in-between moments. Most drivers waste that time. They scroll social media. They zone out. 

But a shift is filled with five-minute and ten-minute blocks of silence. And if you’re smart, you can use those blocks to stack new skills.

That’s what I do.

I’ve listened to The Mental Game of Trading by Jared Tendler three times. It should be required reading for anyone who wants to stay calm and make smart decisions under pressure. 

Relentless by Tim Grover helped me build discipline. 

Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman profoundly shifted my entire perspective on time. 

And Best Loser Wins by Tom Hougaard changed the way I approach trading risk.

None of these books costs more than a quarter of a tank of gas. And I listened to all of them in the car. No classroom. No tuition. Just a rideshare driver trying to make his hours count.

1. Keep a Learning Queue

Don’t wait until you’re in the car to decide what to listen to. Build a queue. Get intentional. 

I use Audible, Spotify, and a few curated YouTube playlists. I keep them sorted by mood. If I’m feeling tired, I’ll queue up something light or inspirational. If I’m alert and focused, I’ll tackle a dense trading interview or long-form podcast.

Right now, I’m listening to Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke. It’s a masterclass on probabilistic thinking. Last week, it was episodes from Chat With Traders. My next Audible book is Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis. 

I don’t bounce around. I focus on one theme at a time. Currently, the theme is mastering risk and maintaining emotional stability in volatile markets.

When you choose a topic and go deep, the learning sticks. And when the shift is over, I’m not just richer by a few hundred bucks. I’m smarter, too.

2. Invest in Audiobooks

I’ve tried free podcasts and YouTube videos, and they’re fine. But the best content I’ve found, the stuff that really gets into your bones, comes from audiobooks. Audible is worth every penny, especially when you start viewing it as a business expense.

I buy a new audiobook each month. Sometimes I’ll re-listen to a favorite instead. But the value is always there. These are not background noise. These books are mentors, disguised as narrators.

Think of it this way: a course might cost you $500. But you can get ten of the best minds in the world to whisper in your ear for $15 a month while you drive, while you work. That’s leverage.

Some drivers invest in floor mats or LED lights. I invest in ideas. And over time, those ideas compound.

3. Create Learning Zones

Every city has areas where the traffic slows down. 

I keep a short list of high-return “learning zones” where I know I’ll be spending some time. Waiting outside the Amazon factory near the Sacramento airport is a good example. 

I often have 10-15 minutes before the workers finish their shifts. When I hit one, I switch from pickup mode to study mode. I’ll queue up the next chapter of Atomic Habits or re-listen to a segment from a trading psychology talk.

But it’s not just downtime. Between rides, I quickly flip between Spotify (for passengers) and Audible or podcasts (for myself). That toggle has become second nature. One ride ends, and ten seconds later, I’m back in class. That’s the rhythm.

The habit matters. Every small bit adds up. Ten minutes here. Twenty minutes there. Over a week, that’s hours of learning most drivers leave on the table.

4. Apply What You Learn

All the listening in the world doesn’t matter if you don’t take action. I treat new ideas like experiments. If I hear a concept that hits, I write it down in the Notes app. Then I try it.

Here is a recent example. After reading about “focus anchors” in The Mental Game of Trading, I started tracking how often I lose concentration while trading or driving. Just noticing it changed everything. Now I catch myself drifting, reset, and stay sharp longer.

Sometimes I’ll bring a new idea into conversation with a passenger. Nothing deep, just a simple thought like, “I heard something interesting about risk management today…” Most people enjoy it. It sharpens my idea, and sometimes I hear a perspective that challenges mine.

Remember this: thinking about an idea doesn’t change you. Acting on it does. One small application a day, and you’re not just learning, you’re evolving.

5. Let Your Car Become a Library

We obsess about what we put into our bodies. But we’re careless with what we put into our heads. I treat my car like a clean, curated mental space. No talk radio. No trash content. No endless news scrolls. Just music that soothes me or content that builds me.

Your playlist is a mirror. If it’s just the Top 40 or angry news hosts yelling, that’s what you’ll carry into the rest of your life. But if you fill your ride time with ideas, you’ll start to think more clearly. You’ll grow faster. You’ll build resilience without even realizing it.

I keep a laminated list of my top 10 books in my home office. It’s not for show. It’s a reminder that I control what goes into my mind. I curate it like a coach curates drills for their players. That discipline has made a powerful difference by declaring what is important to me, learning above the mindless consumption of entertainment.

Key Takeaways

Rideshare driving isn’t just a hustle. It’s an opportunity. 

Between pickups, in slow zones, during those silent early morning shifts, you have time. And if you use that time to learn, to grow, to shape a new version of yourself, you can turn every shift into something much bigger.

Build a learning queue. Subscribe to Audible. Take notes. Apply what you hear. Turn theory into action. Make your car a library, not a lounge. 

You don’t have to stay where you are. You can build something. Let the magnitude and excitement of your bright future inspire you to take action, one mile at a time, one book at a time, and one idea at a time.

That’s how I do it. And you can too. Be safe out there.

By Jay Cradeur

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