Smart people in white coats have extensively studied commuting — this supposedly necessary part of our days — and the verdict is in: Long commutes make you fat, stressed, and miserable. Even short commutes will stab at your happiness.
— from REMOTE: Office Not Required, in bookstores Oct. 29
Are you commuting your life away? Email us with your sob story — we’ll publish the best (worst?) of them here on SvN. The winner (loser?) will receive a $100 gas card and a signed copy of REMOTE, to be mailed directly to your CEO!
Jeff White
on 03 Oct 13I fucking LOVE my commute. 25 minutes of driving an amazing fast, awesome handling car and listening to great music is exactly what I need to pump me up before and after a long day at the office.
However, all of my staff have a relatively short walk to our office and they tell me that they enjoy the clarity this gives them as well.
We have several employees who work from home, and without fail, they find it less enjoyable than when they are in the office with their friends and colleagues. Sorry, but your argument just doesn’t work for everyone.
Joe
on 03 Oct 13Jeff – I don’t think you’re going to win the $100 gas card.
Jared White
on 03 Oct 13I hope the book clarifies the following point because many people seem very confused: working remotely != working at home. I work remotely on every project I’m on and I often DON’T work at home. I work at a co-work space where I rent a desk. It’s a 15 minute commute through beautiful hills and ranch lands to an adjacent town. Sometimes I work from a coffee shop. I’ve even worked on my iPad sitting under a tree next to a stream with foxtails around.
Remote work is the ability to work WHERE and to some extent WHEN you decide you want or need to work. It’s the ability to chose the environment which makes you feel happy and productive. If you work for a company with a “real” office and you love working there, that’s great—but…if they FORCE you to work there every week and even dictate which days of which week, or if you decided to work a week at home or at a coffeeshop or on a beach that would be grounds for reprimand or outright dismissal, then I think you are working for the wrong company. (Granted I’m talking about office/knowledge worker jobs obviously, not retail or construction or whatever.)
Anyway, I’m very excited to read REMOTE and look forward to purchasing it as soon as it’s available!
@tomordonez
on 03 Oct 13When I moved to Chicago. The first 2 years I had a home office. I gained 30 lbs. Worked from 8am to 8pm everyday. I grew a beard. I was depressed on and off. Didn’t make an effort to go out and meet people. I had a roof with an amazing view to downtown. Never used it. I was a 10min train ride away from downtown but never went. Didn’t need to.
During the winter most weeks I never went out. It started to feel like solitary confinement.
I needed to commute to stop being a hermit. I tried Regus in downtown. Amazing view. Expensive as hell. Didn’t meet anybody for a few weeks. Stopped going cause I was the only showing up in jeans. They looked at me like I didn’t belong there.
I found a coworking space in downtown. Met a lot of people. Loved my 10min commute.
I walked it a few times when it was above 50F. I could go to any meetup cause they were all around there.
Then I moved up north. 45 min train ride to 1871. Didn’t love that commute. Hated it when the train was packed and had to elbow my way inside.
Moved to Miami. My commute is a 10 min drive. I miss the train. Even if it’s 45 min ride of no driving. At least I could read a book. Although I love that I don’t need to drive more than 10 minutes. I would hate it if I had to drive to downtown Miami. I do the codeandcoffee close to downtown once a week. The drive is 45 min.
Remote work and onsite work also depends on the type of job. I don’t recommend remote work for interns or sales people. I recommend remote work for people that need to focus a lot on their work. Such as developers, analysts, or those that require heavy analytical skills.
Remote work doesn’t work if you have kids at home that interrupt you all day. Remote work doesn’t work if you are in your PJs all day. Remote work if you can have office with a door. You unplug the TV, the playstation and you take a shower every day. If you go out for lunch and do meetups at night. If you realize that you gain weight, unshaved for a long time and don’t take a shower every day. It’s time to stop working at home.
Lucy
on 03 Oct 136.50: alarm goes 7.10: drag myself out of bed I normally pack a lunchbox, grab a cereal bar and am on the road by 8ish. 35minute drive to a park and ride where I hop on a bus with other commuters and those popping into town. It’s funny, you get to know people without actually talking to them. You got got those that sit in the same seat everyday, play the same game on their phone, you get the drift. It’s a boring bus journey but it’s the cheapest way of getting t
Lucy
on 03 Oct 13..woops! (Typing on a phone)... The commute isn’t the best, but I do think your verdict is a generalisation. I know some people who love their long tube commutes – it boils down to whether you enjoy your job and whether your work properly compensates you where possible
James
on 03 Oct 13When I lived DT Chicago, I got a job in the northern ‘burbs. 1 hour commute each way at least (unless I left by 6:30 a.m. or returned after 7). Rarely saw family.
After 2 years of that nonsense, we moved 1 mile from the office. One of the best decisions we ever made. I take kids to school, doctor appointments, make all their games and we get to have family dinner regularly. I sometimes bike or walk to work. I’ve even showshoed to the office. If need be, I can be back in the office in 2 minutes post-dinner and bedtime should the need arise.
Some friends claim to like a moderate commute as they get to decompress (and listen to Howard Stern – I just listen on Sirius via Jambox in office). And while it it often a “culture shock” to almost instantly transition from the office to the sometimes bat shit end of day craziness of a house full of tired, hungry kids, I’ve found that the more time I get to spend with my family the better.
Adam
on 04 Oct 13I’ve experienced the gambit. My worst commute was from Santa Cruz to Mountain View, California, which was an hour each way. There were accident scenes every day between me and my destination, usually on the way back. Many of them were fatal. Perhaps Valley traffic was the inspiration for Steve Jobs’ “If this were my last day on earth” mantra. Driving that commute made me want to crawl out of my skin, so I took a combination of bus and Caltrain (1h 30m) or sometimes bus and bicycle (1h 45m). One San Jose cop pulled me over to inform me that people don’t like cyclists in the Valley. So I left.
I’ve also lived in Boston, which has an excellent public transportation system but is only slightly more friendly cyclists. The suit I was required to wear further complicated cycling to the office; in the summer I would give myself a sponge bath in the bathroom to avoid arriving at my desk in a sweat. It’s a dense city, though, so it rarely took more than 20-25 minutes each way. Occasionally I’d be on the T and there would be some terrible hold-up that would take hours to resolve. Taking a cab wouldn’t help much because the surface streets would be clogged with all the other T escapees.
I’ve also worked from home, but I don’t think it’s everything it’s cracked up to be. In fact, it drove me absolutely bonkers. When you want to be productive, you have to figure out some way to psych yourself up—some mental transformation akin to the one you’re used to when you physically walk out your door. When you need to talk with people about a project, it’s really gratifying to have them right in front of you. Text-based chat and phone calls are not very good ways to talk through problems, so I did a lot of talking to myself, which felt a little crazy after a while. When you eat your lunch and you want to talk with someone about a book you read or a movie you watched, there’s no one around at home and only busy strangers at the nearby restaurants and cafés. Do this long enough and you pounce on whoever’s living with you with a kind of social desperation. My wife has the same issues. After two years, she’s ready to throw in the towel.
There may be people in this world with the right combination of discipline, introversion and communal office arrangements, but I’m not one of them. I hope your book addresses this.
I’m in Portland, Oregon now. It’s a great city with a sane public/cycle transit system. Most days I ride into work. It’s about 25 minutes each way. I’m happy and productive. The hills even work out so it’s mostly downhill to work and uphill back—no sponge bath required.
Anonymous Coward
on 04 Oct 13As a primarily remote worker for the last few years, I think 37s overvalues remote working and undervalues working together. There is no one correct way; there are many variables that determine what is best for each person and group.
David Andersen
on 04 Oct 13I also think the Anonymous Coward auto name has run its course and then some.
GeeIWonder
on 04 Oct 13Well it’s a good news/bad news thing for the new 37signals book. You’re getting some pushback on the remote working thing.
On the bad side—many people here and elsewhere are posting stories that sound in direct contrast with the premise and especially the absolutism with which it is sometimes advocated.
On the good side—this is a great environment to try and make a convincing argument, rather spouting than the usual tautology.
Lee Dale
on 04 Oct 13In my experience of being a freelance developer for 15 years I can tell you that I’m happiest when I get to choose when I want to work remotely (home office) and when I want to be in the main office. My current client is about a 1h:45min to 2h commute away and it would drain the life out of me if I had to travel to the office every day. I currently do 2,3 or 4 days in the office which suits me fine. I need to interact with my team and get out the house.
My commute goes one of two ways; Drive 10mins to the tube station, jump on a tube for roughly 1h:20min then run 4km to the office, get showered and start work. This is the shortest way as I don’t have to change tubes but I can’t run to work all the time. The other option is to change tubes and get another tube close to the office.
I also feel like you need to get out of the office during the day whether working at home or at the clients office. I tend to take the dogs for a walk over the park. When I’m at the clients I take a trip down the coffee shop or go to the pub for lunch. It’s a must for breaking up the day and not getting burnt out.
Aurélien
on 04 Oct 13I will sooooooooooo much win this one…. I’ll email the details but let’s just say I have the choice between : - 30mn car + 40mn bus or - 45mn car when noone is on the road… 1h15 on average with some interesting variations up to 2h45…
Pictures of me crying in despair wil lbe included in the email…...................................
Jane
on 04 Oct 13As a freelancer living in the Boston area with a set number of working hours during the day, it didn’t take me long to figure out that commuting to a client’s office costs me ~ $200/day in unbillable time. I work just fine at the client site, but find that other than socializing (which is fun), most communication goes on by IM or email anyhow, so it really doesn’t matter that I’m there.
Fortunately most of my clients, when faced with the choice of “I can be here and spend 5 hours on your project a day, or do it at home mostly and spend 7 or more hours a day” choose the latter. Coming in for key meetings, brainstorms, working sessions etc helps. Sitting in traffic is soul killing.
Don Speedie
on 04 Oct 13My work in construction management means I have to travel (and sometimes move) for work. A downturn in the economy turned required me to relocate to Los Angeles, which in turn required anywhere from 2 to 3 hours of commuting per day over the course of 2-1/2 years. Jacked up on coffee, working stressful projects with other time-stressed people was morally draining, affected my physical health and was not good for my family or the environment.
When I was fortunate enough to land a job on a project 20 minutes away, I decided to be away from home the same amount of time but spend roughly 2 hours a day working on a side project that would hopefully some day allow me some control over my working location. The project is Fluid Contract Manger (fluidcm.com) a web based project management program and was inspired by Basecamp, and 37 Signals. Now, two years later, we are releasing it on November 1st as the first construction management program to be designed from the ground up as a fully responsive/mobile application. This is a 100% bootstrapped project and a true test to what 37 Signals and others have been promoting.
Thanks for the inspiration!
Steve S
on 04 Oct 13I’ve been working from home (except for 3-4 short trips per year) for last 2 years. But…
My worst commute (but not really a nightmare) used to be from Naperville, IL to Skokie, IL – every day for two years. It was about 50 miles one way: east on I-88 and north on 294. I’d leave home before 6am in an attempt to avoid traffic and leave work after 7pm to do the same. Best case was a 50 minutes one-way commute.
Each day started with waiting to pay a toll to get on I-88 and then another before I got off. More typically there’d be an accident – small or large – that would add 15-30 minutes to the one-way commute.
So overall I spent at least 2 hrs a day driving. Sometimes I’d be so keyed up by time I got to work in the morning and/or home at night that I wasn’t very pleasant to deal with. Once I was stuck near O’hare for 5 hours when a tanker truck blew up and there was grid lock. I hated the commute and it did a lot of damage to my family life – but I stuck with it because the work was interesting and it was a high-paying position.
Nowadays I walk from our master bedroom about 30 feet to my home office. Rarely do I even get out of my gym shorts and/or put on a shirt. I do occasionally miss the random, face to face interactions with company employees outside of my immediate circle but overall I know I’m way more productive and happy with my work from home situation.
BS
on 04 Oct 13Steve, you still working from home in Naperville? If so, I bet its nice to wake up in the middle of January with 2 feet of new snow on the ground and smile (to your self) as you watch your neighbors plow out of their driveways so they can get to the office :)
Devan
on 05 Oct 13The worst thing about my commute is when I accidentally kick the cat when walking down the stairs to my home office on the ground floor.
My definition of remote working is slightly different, in that I am a one man business, so for me ‘remote working’ is not really working from home (which I already do) but being able to run my ENTIRE business while sitting in a hotel room or cafe somewhere, and not necessarily whilst using a laptop per se.
It is only in the past 12 months that I have achieved this, and its great.
However, I hope your book has some useful insights into dealing with ‘cabin fever’... ;-)
Michael
on 05 Oct 13You have to include something in your book about driving straight into the early morning or late afternoon sun. That shit is enraging, truly a taste of hell. Plus, it’s a major source of fatalities and life-altering injuries to cyclists.
Michael
on 05 Oct 13David, may Anonymous Coward never die. I wish it was a feature of more websites besides this one and /.
David, or is it?
on 05 Oct 13Michael (if that’s you’re real name) the use of the AC moniker makes some bold and careless assumptions. For one, just because I type my real name in the box doesn’t mean I’m any less anonymous to anyone here. And if I use a fake name it’s not only anonymous but deceptive. In short, the difference between something I type and ‘Anonymous Coward’ could easily be zero. So what’s the point?
Oh, that David
on 05 Oct 13[your not you’re]
Paulo Silva
on 05 Oct 13Get up from bed: 7:25 am
Leave house (car): 8:05 am
Catch bus: 8:15 am
Catch subway: 9:10 am
Catch another bus: 9:30 am
Walk 5-10 minutes and get to work at 10:00 am
Since I get up until I start working, that’s 2 hours and 30 minutes (more or less)! Why do I do this everyday? Well, I like what I do, I like where I work and I like the people I work with.
At my company we are allowed to work remotely and sometimes I do work from home. On those days I get more sleep and work as much, or even more, than when I’m in the office. I also spend more time with my wife which is obviously a good thing.
For me, working 100% remotely isn’t the best solution. I think that spending time with other people and discussing ideas is very valuable. But sometimes when you just need to focus and code (Ruby on Rails), being able to work outside the office, without distractions, is the best way to get work done. I’m glad that I’m able to do that when I need to.
I’m really looking forward to reading REMOTE and I hope it will help to clear people’s minds about the benefits and downsides of working remotely.
Brandon Bailey
on 05 Oct 13I live a block away from where I work, and the lack of commute does make for a less stressful existence.
Still, I hope to welcome a either a remote work or full-time freelance situation next year. Having the option of a distraction-free environment vastly improves the quality of my work and allows me to be more efficient. As far as cabin fever, I feel much more cloistered in my cubicle under the fluorescent lights. My home office has natural light—and I can always take my macbook out to a coffee shop, library or park.
I’ve done some freelance from home, and feel more motivated to work. I can’t fathom the stories of people gaining weight and playing video games all day while working remotely. That sounds more like a performance problem than a remote working issue. If you aren’t motivated at home, then chances are you’re not motivated at an office either.
The preference for remote working might simply come down to introversion/extroversion, as well as the type of work involved. Many designers and developers tend to be introverts, and welcome the concentration that comes along with remote working. Extroverts are drawn to jobs with a high degree of interaction, and I find that they are the ones who often scoff when the subject of remote working comes up.
In any case, I look forward to REMOTE, and might even order an extra copy for my manager.
Michael
on 06 Oct 13David, you and I have both been commenters here for years, so whether or not we are using our real names (I am), we have built up an identity which has to be credible for us to be taken seriously at this point. Yes, a person could type gibberish each time to not be labeled as anonymous and get around it, but it’s a simple way to say that identity is valued here.
Plus, it’s just a neat little thing as a tribute to other sites that use the AC default. It’s a bit of nerd tribute.
Andrew
on 07 Oct 13I live in London and used to catch the tube to work. Sometimes the tube is absolutely fantastic and the best way to get around. But in rush hour? Oh man! You’ll often find yourself on a train so crowded that your face is stuck in the armpit of the guy next to you for 20 minutes.
That’s if you’re lucky enough to get on a train. I’ve often had to wait for a few trains to come and go just to squeeze onto one. Do you know how stressful that is when you’re trying to get to work for 9am and you’ve only left enough time for a “normal” journey?
And people are always throwing themselves under trains. So, half the time, trains are delayed or cancelled etc. Another joyful bit is where the train stops in a tunnel for no apparent reason and the claustrophobia if your fellow commuters rises while you take deep lungfuls of the BO from the guy next to you. No time for a shower this morning dude?
Been working remotely for years now and absolutely loving it!
Cormac
on 07 Oct 13The evening part of my 90-min-each-way commute is a positive thing in my life – I have 2 kids and it’s the only part of the day I can count on where I can work on my own stuff. Mitigating factors – I’m on a bus, and I get to work at home a day or two a week. If I had to commute every single day I’d find it very tough (early mornings wear me out), and if I had to drive I’d never have taken the job
Working from home is fine for me – I don’t need motivation to get shit done, I just knuckle down whether I feel like it or not. That’s called being a grown-up, bitches
German Flores
on 07 Oct 13I miss my commute. I used to bicycle from the north side of Chicago to downtown year-around. ~45 minutes at 5:30am and at 3pm. 10 miles each way, that’s 100 miles per week. Most of the cycling was on the Chicago lakefront path.
I arrived at work, went for a shower and was in early enough that I could get work done without distractions. My new job has only 3 1/2 mile bicycle commute and I have gained 10 lbs.
Dislike the commute? It depends.
Neil Middleton
on 08 Oct 13I used to commute by motorcycle for an hour each morning, and again in the evening. Also, being in the UK, I spent a bunch of this time cold and wet.
I’m now working from home remotely for a company in the US, and whilst I don’t miss the commute itself, I sometimes miss being in the office, and working with people face to face. My office is now an 11 hour flight away – which is probably the longest commute I’ve had.
Like others have said – remote working isn’t the best thing evar – it’s nice in some regards, and sucks in others. It depends on the person and the job.
Robert M.
on 09 Oct 13I’m with Jeff: I love my commute. I think I might even like it better. It’s about 10 minutes by bicycle, so it’s definitely not making me fat, I don’t have to pay for gas, and parking is free and convenient. I almost wish the commute were longer, but I have plenty of opportunities for doing that on my own if I want (e.g., trips to the store).
This discussion is closed.