8:30 a.m.: PRECOMMUTE PREP TIME

Before you head out, let your Mac and iPod help you plan your day and shorten your commute - or just make it much more enjoyable.

6. Gas up the car - for less.

If you're stuck doing a daily car commute, you're no doubt feeling the pain at the pump as gas prices just keep heading north. Whether you drive a Tahoe or a Prius, there's no point in paying more for gas than you have to. Apple's gas widget (free) shows you the lowest prices in your area. Once you load it, click the information icon to add your zip code, and then click the tiny left-right arrow to find out how much it's going to hurt the next time you fill.

Always get the best price on gas.

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7. Take YouTube to go.

Make a long morning bus or train commute more bearable by loading up your iPod with a batch of the latest YouTube vids. TubeSock 2.0 also supports dailymotion.com and porkolt.com, and it can even perform batch conversions.

Make your fellow bus riders wonder what you're laughing at.

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8. Drive to work in a 2008 Toyota Scion with iPod support.

We coveted the Toyota Scion (price TBD) even before we found out the 2008 model will include an iPod connection as standard equipment. Unlike cars that just use a mini-stereo cable that connects to the iPod's headphone jack, the Scion has a legitimate iPod connector. Your tracks and song info show up on the stereo's digital display. Best of all, the steering wheel sports iPod controls.

The Scion comes with a 160-watt stereo and lets you control your iPod on the steering column.

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9. Shorten your commute.

Traffic got you in a jam? Before you leave, check the traffic widget on your Mac. To find one for your area, check out apple.com/downloads/dashboard/transportation. To find to your local traffic widget faster, press Command-F and type the name of your town in the resulting search field.

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10. Upload crucial files to your Mac.

Sending files to yourself via email is old school. (Although we hear Steve Jobs still does it.) There's a better way, and it's called iDisk. As long as you have a .Mac account ($99.95 a year) you can upload any files you might need before heading to work. Click the iDisk icon in the upper-left pane of a Finder window (if it's not there, log in at System Preferences > .Mac), navigate to the folder where you want to store your stuff, and drag in the files from your hard drive. Files stored on .Mac are always accessible and - unlike files you email to yourself - never get lost.

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