LOOKING at next week's diary you see there's a meeting you need to attend in an office 150 miles away on Monday, and Wednesday and Friday look like long drives too.
The last thing you need (after closed motorways while the cops sort out a crash site) is a car that leaves you lost and and a back needing urgent attention.
Instead, you need a car that acts like a soothing nanny, almost driving itself while you stream some favourite music over the sound system to arrive relaxed and ready to help with the next executive decision.
Your search for the ideal four-wheeled business de-stresser could sensibly start with the car you see here; Volkswagen even calls this version of its new Passat the SE Business and is aiming at the mile munchers in the company car park.
So, the spec includes a driver's seat that even comes with its own smart 'ergoComfort' badge to signal the efforts made to keep its occupant relaxed and ready for the fray. Seat cushion tilt adjustment, extra thigh support and electric seat back adjustment make it easy to find the setting to suit.
Then, once you're sitting comfortably, you can tap in your destination on the big, clear sat nav screen that dominates the centre of the dashboard. It comes loaded with European data, so finding the head office in deepest Darmstadt won't be a problem.
Actually, if you do head for that German town you can happily ignore one feature of the satellite navigation screen on parts of your trip; the speed limit read out won't apply on derestricted autobahns. Back in more restricted Blighty, the display might save you some licence points.
There should be savings in other directions with this eighth generation Passat; it weighs modestly less than before and is powered by a new more economical range of diesel engines (petrol is dropped altogether as scarcely anyone bought the old one).
The car managed 57mpg over several hundred miles of mainly motorway work, just the sort of environment most SE Business editions will face. That must count as a fine return in a car that feels solidly built and offers all the space for people and luggage that its business user might need at the weekend.
This car came with a seven-speed automatic gearbox that costs £1,600 more than the manual version and cleverly manages to use less fuel and produce fewer tailpipe nasties than the car with DIY gears.
It also helps make each journey a little less stressed and is simply wonderful in a traffic jam, working in conjunction with an automatic hold brake that keeps the car at standstill and releases as you tickle the throttle and move away.
All that comes as standard on the SE Business model but you might want to persuade the company accountants to add an upgrade or two - all in the interest of increasing your efficiency, of course.
Top among them might be £280 for a winter pack with heated windscreen washer jets and heated front seats. And how about another £205 for paddle shifts to change gear like a F1 pilot and (wonderful on a chilly morning!) a heated steering wheel.