In the same way people refuse to acknowledge their imminent death, they also have difficulty recognizing that there is no viable strategy for improving the pleasantness of your commute. Many office workers like to believe if that they just leave a this time or just transfer at this stop, their train ride can be ameliorated by .001%.
But this simply isn’t the case. The MTA, much like your workplace, is a sadist. It cares not for seeing you in any way content, and will go out of its way to wipe anything resembling a smile or upturned mouth off your visage. Thus, the strategy you should really be working on is how best to play the lottery in order to make your escape.