Is this a thing? I heard of it for the first time today, in fact three hours ago. Actor/writer John Dorney mentioned that he’s learning the clarinet on his imaginary commute to work. Now, he could well have invented the term – the man writes some of the most imaginative Doctor Who dramas for Big Finish – or he could just be borrowing it. But either way, I’m having it.

Currently my commute is across the landing from the bedroom to my office via a bathroom. Sometimes, not always, I’ll throw in a trip downstairs to the kitchen on the way. I’m crazy.

But the idea of an imaginary commute is to set aside a time in which you don’t work and you’re not at home, not really. You probably are. But take a specific set time for it: a time you will go to work, a time it will take to travel there and a time you will arrive and get straight down to it. Fit something you want to do in between, something that’s at least broadly possible within a normal commute. John says he reads too and anyone can do that. Anyone can see the benefit of having a set time put aside for reading too.

The clarinet needs more imagination but I’m fine with that, I’m more a piano man.