I think a good addition to the rationality section would be to "steel man" instead of "straw man" positions you disagree with.
Rather than find the least plausible or credible piece of someone else's argument, find the strongest piece of evidence they have, ask them for it, if they don't know it, often the case in my experience, start researching it for them to see if there really isn't anything of merit there.
Doing that will not only strengthen your own position by likely cutting away the weakest pieces of evidence you have for your own position, you will likely empathize with the other person. Almost nobody wants to be a villain or think they're the bad guy so finding what is likely a real grievance at the heart of their position is essential to understanding them. Also if you do this, you build trust with that person, and trust is the foundation on which persuasion and compromise work.
I think commuting by car is fine if you can do books on tape or podcasts and if your drive is relatively stress free. I actually miss that time.
On the other hand if your commute is a 1-3 hour endless slog of fighting for position on congested streets and dangerous situations, than yeah absolutely avoid it at all costs.