Embarking on a daily journey to work might seem mundane, yet it holds untapped psychological benefits. Let's delve into the surprising ways commuting can enhance mental well-being, from fostering mindfulness to providing unexpected 'me' time.
During the coronavirus pandemic, the scourge we’d spent a lifetime bad-mouthing as a tedious time-waster went away
Commuting was ranked as the single most miserable part of our day by Daniel Kahneman
- Long commutes were found to be linked to lower subjective well-being
- The average one-way commute in the U.S. is 27 minutes and 15 seconds long
- People have a willingness to spend roughly 60 minutes a day in transit, which explains why ancient cities such as Rome never exceeded about three miles in diameter
- Transit times stayed the same during the pandemic
- Many people liberated from the commute have experienced a void they can’t quite name
Boundary theory holds that however much Facebook encourages employees to bring their “authentic selves” to work, we have multiple selves, all of them authentic
Crossing between one role and another isn’t easy; it’s called boundary work.
- The commute is an example of boundary work: deliberate thinking about plans for the workday and higher levels of satisfaction
- Technology can help: a team at Microsoft installed a program called SwitchBot on commuters’ phones that would pose simple questions
- A morning session helped transition into productive work mode, while prompts to detach at day’s end-“How did you feel about work today?”-brought forth unexpected responses
Why was this a good thing?
The ability to detach from a job is part of what makes a good worker, and research shows that it’s crucial to facilitating mental rejuvenation. Without it, burnout rises, effort increases, and productivity ultimately drops.
- What if the commute never comes back-or at least not every weekday? Can we replace it?
