I don’t commute. I work from home. And I love it. I think of it as getting an extra hour a day. Add that up over the years and it’s a huge chunk of my life that’s given back to me. Not to mention the emotional toll that’s saved from not doing a rush hour commute, especially one on public transportation. (I still have flashbacks to the #66 Chicago Avenue bus I used to take to our office, including the one time – at 10am – a guy started snorting coke off his bus pass while sitting next to me.)
The toll that commuting can have on you is discussed in this article at BusinessWeek. It mentions “the commuting paradox” and why the trade-off of a long distance commute is rarely worth it.
Most people travel long distances with the idea that they’ll accept the burden for something better, be it a house, salary, or school. They presume the trade-off is worth the agony. But studies show that commuters are on average much less satisfied with their lives than noncommuters. A commuter who travels one hour, one way, would have to make 40% more than his current salary to be as fully satisfied with his life as a noncommuter, say economists Bruno S. Frey and Alois Stutzer of the University of Zurich’s Institute for Empirical Research in Economics. People usually overestimate the value of the things they’ll obtain by commuting – more money, more material goods, more prestige – and underestimate the benefit of what they are losing: social connections, hobbies, and health. “Commuting is a stress that doesn’t pay off,” says Stutzer…Commuting is also associated with raised blood pressure, musculoskeletal disorders, increased hostility, lateness, absenteeism, and adverse effects on cognitive performance.
Seems like yet another reason to consider remote workers. Who wouldn’t want a team that’s filled with folks who are less stressed and more satisfied with their lives?
Nithin Bekal
on 02 Apr 10My workplace is a 10 minute bus ride from my home and it’s close enough for me to be able to walk back in the evenings. I have to agree that it’s a lot less stressful, and gives me a lot more free time than if I had to commute longer distances.
Joe Grossberg
on 02 Apr 10Much of this, I agree with, but: “People usually … underestimate the benefit of what they are losing: social connections …”
I’m confused—working in an office that offers face-to-face contact with your colleagues, rather than solo and remotely, means losing social connections?
I work from an “attendance optional” office (thankfully near my apartment), and find it much less socially-isolating than when I was working out of my home every day.
Maybe I’m “doing it wrong”; I’m certainly open to suggestions.
Martin
on 02 Apr 10The other option being to live not too far from your work, if possible.
Scott
on 02 Apr 10My kids make fun of my 30 foot commute from the breakfast table to the office. “Have a safe trip down the hallway, Dad.” “There’s a blizzard today, you better leave early.” My wife too: “On your way to work, could you stop by and throw your shoes in the coat closet?”
Joe Grossberg
on 02 Apr 10Nithin +1. My commute to work is a 15 minute walk; years ago, I had a two-hour morning commute. Certainly, not all commutes are the same.
ML
on 02 Apr 10Joe, I think what they’re saying is that people who spend more time commuting spend less time socializing with friends outside of work.
I agree that working from home can be socially isolating. I try to use it as motivation to make sure I have social activities and places to go when the workday is done.
Jody Baty
on 02 Apr 10Not sure this is an all or nothing decision. There are some good aspects of showing up to an office – namely the social contact. I really like the folks I work with and, despite the richness of online environments, there’s nothing like face to face contact and interactions. I suppose the ideal would be to have an office that’s a five minute walk from home, but that’s seldom feasible due to various constraints (i.e., a yard for the kids, budget, etc.). Thankfully more and more cities are starting down the path of planned communities, cities or towns within cities that enable one to live comfortably within one’s own area. Unfortunately this is still a rarity. For now, a good balance for many is to consider commuting two or three days a week and remote working the remainder.
Scott
on 02 Apr 10Joe, the writer was referring to social time as distinct from work time, considering social interaction distinctly different than professional interaction.
For some people work is their social life. That muddling detracts from both the quality of work (people end up making decisions and perform tasks based on their personal relationships vs. what’s best for the company or organization), and the quality of social connections (you end up picking from a limited population and scope of interests when choosing friends).
Sue Bailey
on 02 Apr 10I work from home and the one thing I miss about working in an office is the commute. I had an hour in the morning and an hour at night that was MINE. I read such a lot and listened to so much music – neither of which I do nearly so much of now, when I just stumble out of bed and walk to the computer in the next room.
Gerrit
on 02 Apr 10Commuting is spare time for me! I can listen to podcasts, think about life or increase my health when going by bike. Plus I meet really nice colleagues in my coworking space. Working at home makes me lonely and unproductive.
Charlton
on 02 Apr 10Commutes vary dramatically, and I don’t see any indication of that in the article.
I’ve had a variety of commutes in the past – ranging from living within comfortable walking distance to work along a bus route or train line to having to drive an hour and fifteen minutes in each direction—and I’ve been a remote worker before. My current job is about a half-hour drive through city traffic or a 45-minute subway ride and walk from home, and I can work remotely as necessary.
What I’ve found is that I really like some objective physical separation from work. I like having a work-place and a home-place. When they’re the same place, I spend far too much time working, and I am less productive and less happy as a result.
I’ve also found that the quality of the commute matters. When I was in graduate school, I commuted by bus. It was an hour and twenty minutes each way, which was nearly three times what it took by car, but it was an hour and twenty minutes that I could spend reading. Now I read or knit on the train ride home, and on days when I drive to work, despite it taking less time, I find I miss the knitting or reading time. By contrast, when I was driving an hour and fifteen minutes each day, it really ground me down—that’s two and a half hours each day of completely wasted time.
Amber Shah
on 02 Apr 10“Who wouldn’t want a team that’s filled with folks who are less stressed and more satisfied with their lives?”
I have worked from home in a couple of different companies now, and was always highly productive. In fact, because of how uncomfortable formal clothes and the office setting is, I feel antsy and ready to go at 4 and “stick it out” until 5. When I work from home, I often look up from my computer at 6 pm and don’t know where the time went – and have to rush to pick up my son.
Then again, I also once worked for a “COO” of a medium sized company that was very profitable who would occasionally “work from home”. He would post about being at the park with his daughter on Facebook. Months after “testing something from home” he told me it never worked and asked me for the info again. I think this behavior is more typical of lazy and also non-technical people, who consider being “available by phone” the same thing as “working from home”. Unsurprisingly he was skeptical of other people working from home, thinking they would be as unproductive as him.
Jeff Yablon
on 02 Apr 10You realize, of course, that you’ve offered no real paradox at all?
Commuting, simply, is a waste of . . . everything.
Jeff Yablon President & CEO Answer Guy and Virtual VIP Computer Support, Business Change Coaching and Virtual Assistant Services
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A
on 02 Apr 10+1 on not all commutes being equal. I ride a bicycle to work, a little under a mile, and I find that the little dose of exercise helps make me more alert and ready to get started in the mornings. In the evenings it’s just fun to pass people stuck in cars who are trapped by gridlock. And it doesn’t cost anything (beyond bike upkeep, but I’d be doing that anyway).
Mac Martine
on 02 Apr 10So true. I work from home too, and it’s been such a life-changer.
This Op-Ed column ( http://nyti.ms/c6Doaf ) from the NYTimes the other day said something similar, in reference to what makes people happy (and what detracts from it):
“The daily activity most injurious to happiness is commuting.”
Jay Godse
on 02 Apr 10This all sounds well & good, but it is hard to find an employer who is willing to make work@home employees the norm. And that makes sense, because most employers cannot measure output, so the only thing left to measure is face time. That is hard to do with work@home employees.
I have had two work@home jobs now, and it has been great for some things, and not so great for others. For working at home, I enjoy the absence of a commute, and the ability to focus on tasks without interruptions. I don’t enjoy some of the social isolation nor, nor the difficulty of soliciting technical or domain expertise, nor do I enjoy the lower wages. Such is life…
Phil McTimoney
on 02 Apr 10Yeah, I’m with Jeff Y. I realize the author didn’t coin the term “commuting paradox”, but a bad deal isn’t a paradox.
Matt
on 02 Apr 10I LOVE working from home! When at work, I like to be focused on just my work so I’m not much of a socializer at work. Working from home forces me to go to hobbies in the evening where I will meet other people that have the same interests and want to have fun.
Greg
on 02 Apr 10If I worked form home, I would consider renting space at an office farm…separation between work and family
In an ideal world, we would always be a 20 minute walk from work. But work locations change. I would not live or send my kids to school in the crime-infested neighborhood where I work. I would also not make my kids change schools and neighborhoods every time I officed in a different part of town…stability matters.
Oh and commuting = audio books. Reading is out with little kids at home.
Morgan Aldridge
on 02 Apr 10I’ve worked for the same company for the last 6+ years and have had an hour commute into the office (one way; when the weather’s good) for the duration. The drain on me, my relationships, and my wallet due to the loss of 2+ hours a day has been immense and has adversely affected my performance in all areas of my job and life.
This is Vermont, so there’s not much traffic, but it’s all driving, inclement weather is not an excuse but often extends delays, and it’s hard on vehicles (road salt, dirt roads, mud season, etc.) I’m fortunate to live in one of the few areas with public (bus) transportation, but that’d only be useful if I worked in the immediate area. Commuting by bicycle is only an option for about 6 months out of the year, but I’d love to give it a go.
I can work from home on occasion (and it saves me a nice bit of time, stress, and money when I do), but I have no office setup at home and no shared office spaces convenient to my location. Unfortunately, the company I work for is not good at measuring performance, so they have a great deal of trouble allowing regular telecommuting (although most of my duties can be completed remotely).
I really should spend the time to set up a home office and campaign for more scheduled telecommuting, but at the end of the day I’m left with little time or energy to even clean the house or pay bills, let alone push forward on such an arrangement.
Benjy
on 02 Apr 10My commute now isn’t terrible in the scheme of Chicago commutes—30-40 min. each way via mass transit. But I really miss my previous job’s commute that was 7-10 minute drive from home. Ironically, though, in some ways I miss my 45 min. driving commute I did for the first 5 years after I moved back to town. I liked the solitude of my car, the ability to set the temp how I want, listen to NPR, etc. ability to run errands on the way home, etc.
Matt
on 02 Apr 10Here’s the thing: you need a critical mass of coworkers who will also work from home. If your work environment is even a bit political (and, sadly, mine is highly so) you can’t be the only one who’s not there to ‘defend your turf’.
When I started my current job I bargained working from home one day a week; once I moved closer I stopped doing that because I was compromise my ability to get shit done.
Obviously, a better solution would be to not be in a toxic workplace.
Scott
on 02 Apr 10The paradox is that the people in the article commute long distances so that they can 1) make more money while 2) have their ideal lifestyle by living in the town they want, yet the impacts of the long commuting time is contrary and incongruous to the article’s stated purposes of long commuting time.
David Andersen
on 02 Apr 10@ Jeff Yablon -
The only thing you’re missing in your comment is an animated dancer.
David Andersen – BS Detector
Tom
on 02 Apr 10Many companies, managers, and CEOs are culturally and psychologically unable to accept remote workers due to an outmoded assumption that people must always only work in an office.
Secondly, some of these same people have been abused by remote workers who did not work, but instead misused not having to go to the office by wasting time, doing too much non-work activities, etc. etc. Also, many jobs require being in an office to fish through mountains of paperwork etc.
Many American managers and CEOs are just not ready for or capable of accepting telecommuting.
Telecommuting also doesn’t work for hourly staff, who usually must be regulated, etc.
JohnO
on 02 Apr 10How come you guys are planning on getting that, pretty and giant, new office space?
Scott
on 02 Apr 10JohnO:
Part of it’s going to this: “This July, 37signals will move into a new office in Chicago, which will include a 37-seat theater—a university, Fried says, for the 37signals way of doing business. “
See the Newsweek story.
Michael
on 03 Apr 10It is worth noting that not spending an hour a day commuting, added up over the year is one month worth of productive time.
So if you were to work during that saved hour, you can in theory take an entire month off and still have worked as much as a normal commuter.
Vinh Le
on 03 Apr 10I always consider it time to get some serious reading and studying in, something I might not do as much if it wasn’t for the commute. But I personally would rather live closer to the job or in the city anyways.
Berserk
on 03 Apr 10For the last four years I’ve had a (one-way) 90 minute commute (3 min walk, 60 min train, 5 min walk, 5 min metro, 3 min walk). Often the train ride home is spent reading books, but the rest of it is pretty wasted (and me is wasted too). I live where I live due to cost of living (my place cost maybe 1/5 of what it would have cost me to live within 30 minutes of work). To me it’s not a paradox at all that commuting is draining.
I would not consider anything less than 30 minutes one-way a “commute” at all, it’s simply getting to work. When I move next time that is my goal, less than 30 minutes to work.
I’ve tried working at home, and it works occasionally when I have specific (and more thought-requiring but less developy-related than usual) work.
Alan Green
on 03 Apr 10The difference between a job with commuting and no job without commuting is significant enough to commute.
Dave
on 03 Apr 10I currently commute to university – an hour+ each way, and it is a real pain. Though I do enjoy having some time to get away from the computer and just read a book (I just finished Rework doing this).
In any case though, there was a recent article in Fast Company about commuting, that says when you add the costs of transportation, it is more expensive to live in the suburbs than inside cities.
ephant
on 04 Apr 10I find it very difficult to motivate myself when I am on my own, I really enjoy being at work with other people who are all working toward the same goal(s).
Of course my commute is an hour walk each way, which gives me “me” time to just think or listen to music, as well as being a fair whack of exercise. When I twisted my ankle recently and had to catch public transport to work I really resented the 90mins wasted time I spent each day.
Anonymous Coward
on 04 Apr 10Company culture matters. Working from home can be liberating and productive, but it can – at the same time – limit the creativity that comes from bouncing ideas off people doing the same stuff. I’ve seen home workers get confused about company goals, while still getting their work done. However, I think this is a management issue, one which is being solved through practice.
I’ve had all the commutes (hour + drive, buses and trains, bike, and home office). For me, nothing beats the current 25 minute walk with my wife (our offices are across a park from one another). Getting “the commute” right matters.
Stephen James
on 05 Apr 10I find it good to change location in order to focus. If you have enough self-discipline, you can work from home productively, but it can hard to focus with housework on your todo list. Also, I have a 12 minute commute by car here in Indianapolis!
Michael S
on 05 Apr 10For me it wasn’t about salary vs. bigger salary farther away. With no real businesses around where I live I have to drive to work for about an hour and twenty minutes. I want that the two extra hours a day back (and no work from home option) so I’m going to move closer to where work is.
But for now I make the best of that almost 3 hours a day in the car. I listen to music, catch up on news, work on making my driving smoother, think about things. Having a relaxed attitude, without worrying about getting ahead of the guy next to me or beating the light, helps a great deal.
Eugene
on 05 Apr 10That sounds great… So how does one get a job working from home? I do Python development and information security stuff, which should be totally doable remotely, but it seems hard to find.
IBMer
on 05 Apr 10And the toll from working at home at Big Blue is LAYOFFS.
@IBMer
on 06 Apr 10Perhaps the layoffs are actually caused by IBM not being very good at building a better planet. Perhaps they should look into building simpler more useful software for their customers instead of worrying about the entire planet.
BuschnicK
on 06 Apr 10I’m commuting voluntarily. I’m a software developer living in a small town in Germany. I could work from home on most days and commuting to the office via bicycle takes less than 10 minutes. However, I opt to walk to and from the office which ends up “costing” me half an hour each way. I quite like the ramp up time in the morning, booting my brain with work matters and shaking the sleepiness. Same thing, unwinding and relaxing on the way home, getting rid of all office related worries helps me a lot with enjoying my free time more. I don’t own a car (by choice).
I also find it hard to balance work and personal time when working from home. The fact that you could, in theory, be working all the time makes me feel guilty when I don’t. I don’t find it easy to discipline myself in that regard.
Anyway, the real tragedy (in general and with the US in particular) is that we have created unlivable cities, making fleeing them and commuting pretty much the only option. We don’t have a lot of polluting/heavy/noisy industry any longer, so there is really no reason to strictly separate commercial and residential zoning. Mix these again, build livable cities and make commuting obsolete/unnecessary.
cheers,
Sörenchris
on 06 Apr 10this is the sort of seems like where business is headed. we already take our work wherever we go w/laptops, blackberries, iphone, etc. work is becoming integrated into daily life at, what seems like, a very rapid pace. like anything else there will be pros as well as cons. personally, i wish i could do it more but my work, almost exclusively, involves my physical presence
Tom Hermaans
on 08 Apr 10I lost my job five minutes from home, and now have to travel 50 minutes every day to get to my job (and 50 back). I have taken this very badly, 1. because it was not my choice to give up the old job and 2. because, although I financially improved, it weighs on my family life, time alltogether etc
And to add to that, I’m the only one doing webdevelopment there. I have no colleagues I can ask for feedback, only have to explain or defend what and how I do things. So, essentially, there is no need for me to travel every day there. It’s more of a boss-control-thing..
The financial improvement doesn’t weigh up to the daily dose of stress. The one day in the week I can work from home is a calm day, no commuting, no telephones ringing all day and you get something done.
T.
Asaf Sagi
on 08 Apr 10I recently moved closer to my workplace. Now I can choose between a 20-minute drive to work, or a 30-minute bicycle ride.
I usually go with the bike because 90% of the way is through a park with a river and a special bicycle lane. I think it’s better than not commuting, since I get to have all this fresh air in the morning and pass through young moms and random joggers, as well as other cyclists. It’s a 30-minute break before work.
Ernie
on 08 Apr 10Guys, I really think that the article isn’t talking about telecommuting at all, but actual commutes that are short. They’re directly comparing short commutes to long commutes, where both have the same social benefits of showing up to a workplace where you can socialize with the people you work with.
When we bought our townhouse, our intention from the outset was to find a place close to rapid transit (because we have it here, and it gets us both very close to work) and other services. We found that place being built 4 blocks from where I work, and it’s been a great 4 years. We’ve saved a tremendous amount of money on not owning a car, saved many hours of time to spend with our family, gotten lots of exercise, and are generally very happy with the result.
Also, I can make it to work under even the most adverse conditions. This is important when you’re the sysadmin responsible for everyone’s e-mail so that they can work from home that day. :)
Anonymous Coward
on 09 Apr 10Cvcbv/
This discussion is closed.