Set everything up while the car is still parked: phone in the mount, mirrors checked, climate set, route checked and audio queued. Most people lose the first minutes of their drive to that faff after they’ve set off — cables, mirrors, and the panic-search for a podcast — when it takes seconds on the drive.
Here are the six that actually work:
- Phone in the mount before the seatbelt clicks
- Mirror check: five seconds, once, before reverse gear
- Climate preset: dial it in before the handbrake comes off
- The fuel-gauge arrow that shows which side the cap is on
- Route check: ten seconds of traffic-scanning before you set off
- Queue the podcast, not the silence
When should you set up your phone in the car?
Before you move, while the car is parked. The thing nobody tells you: the seatbelt can wait. Plug your phone in, start your navigation, queue your audio — all while the car is still in Park. By the time the belt clicks, everything is running. No reaching across the passenger seat at the first roundabout, no fumbling with a cable that has slipped between the seat rail and the centre console.
When should you check your mirrors?
Once, before you move. Most people adjust their mirrors somewhere between the driveway and the first junction, one eye on the road and one on the glass. The alternative takes five seconds. Sit back in your normal driving position, tweak each mirror so the side of your own car has just disappeared from view. That’s the SAE method — angling the mirrors further outward to shrink the blind spots — and it works better than twisting your neck at every merge.
When should you set the heating or air-con?
Before you move off. Reaching for the temperature dial while merging onto a dual carriageway is a distraction you do not need. Dial in your preset before the handbrake comes off. Modern cars remember your settings anyway, but the habit means you are not squinting at a fogged windscreen three minutes down the road because you forgot to hit the demister.
Which side is my car’s fuel cap on?
The fuel gauge tells you. Next to the fuel pump icon on most modern cars, there is a tiny arrow pointing left or right. It tells you which side the filler cap is on. Memorise it once and you will never pull into a petrol station the wrong way round again. It is especially handy for anyone who switches between a pool car, a hire car and their own.
Should you check the route before a familiar drive?
Yes, it takes ten seconds. Google Maps and Waze both offer alternate routes, but only if you look at them before you set off. A ten-second glance at traffic conditions before you set off can save you sitting in a queue on the A3. Surrey commuters who start in places like Kingston upon Thames know the difference between the scenic way and the fast way — and they do not always overlap.
When should you choose what to listen to?
Before you set off. Touching your phone while driving is against the law, even in stop-start traffic, as well as a distraction. Line up your playlist, download the episode, queue the album — do it before you move. The ten seconds it takes in the driveway saves three minutes of distracted prodding at the next red light, and it means you actually listen to the thing you meant to listen to instead of defaulting to radio static.
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