{"id":23748,"date":"2021-01-11T02:21:26","date_gmt":"2021-01-11T02:21:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=23748"},"modified":"2021-01-12T06:44:28","modified_gmt":"2021-01-12T06:44:28","slug":"the-commuters-paradox-theres-something-to-gain-in-the-space-between-home-and-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/the-commuters-paradox-theres-something-to-gain-in-the-space-between-home-and-work\/","title":{"rendered":"The commuter’s paradox: there’s something to gain in the space between home and work"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shutterstock<\/span><\/span>
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Meg Elkins<\/a>, RMIT University<\/a><\/em> and Robert Hoffmann<\/a>, RMIT University<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

For many of us, one of the upsides of 2020 was being freed from the grind of the daily commute. <\/p>\n

For the 40% of the workforce able to \u201ctelecommute<\/a>\u201d, COVID-19 social distancing measures saved us an average of about an hour a day<\/a> \u2013 and much more for those of us living in the outer suburbs of cities.<\/p>\n

Studies show the morning commute<\/a> is the least favourite part of the day, and the commute home the third-least favourite (working is the second-least favourite). <\/p>\n

Congestion, crowding and unpredictability increase stress and dissatisfaction. The longer it takes, and the more we have to do in the company of others, the more we dislike it<\/a>. <\/p>\n

But it\u2019s also possible to miss aspects of that enforced time between work and home. For all its downsides, the daily commute does have some positives, acting as both a starter button and circuit breaker to differentiate work from home life. <\/p>\n

As life returns to \u201cnormal\u201d and employers ask us to return to the workplace, thinking consciously about those benefits can help make the most of your commute.<\/p>\n

A commuting constant<\/h2>\n

Though we think of commuting as a modern phenomenon, spending time getting to and from work is as old as humanity. Hunting and gathering (going back 200,000 years), farming (about 10,000 years), and living in cities (about 5,000 years) all involved leaving and returning home. These routines seem to have ingrained in us an idea of acceptable travel times. <\/p>\n

In 1994 an Italian physicist, Cesare Marchetti, wrote a paper, Anthropological Invariants in Travel Behaviour<\/a>, on the \u201cquintessential unity of travelling instincts around the world, above culture, race and religion\u201d. <\/p>\n

Drawing on the work of Israeli transport analyst Yacov Zahavi, Marchetti proposed humans had always been willing to spend about an hour a day travelling from and to home. <\/p>\n

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\nThis diagram from Cesare Marchetti\u2019s 1994 paper illustrates how increases in travel speeds increased city sizes while keeping average travel times relatively constant.<\/span>
\nCesare Marchetti<\/a>, CC BY-SA<\/a><\/span>
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This idea of commuting time being 30 minutes each way has become known as Marchetti\u2019s Constant. In a 2001 paper<\/a>, travel researchers Lothlorien Redmond and Patricia Mokhtarian found most people\u2019s ideal commute time was, in fact, less \u2013 an average of 16 minutes \u2013 but their results also confirmed the dislike of any commute longer than 35 minutes.<\/p>\n

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\n\"Ideal<\/a>
\nIdeal versus actual travel times, according to research by Lothlorien Redmond & Patricia Mokhtarian.<\/span>
\nCC BY-SA<\/a><\/span>
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\nRead more:
\nDefying the ‘one-hour rule’ for city travel, traffic modelling drives policy madness<\/a>
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A psychological buffer<\/h2>\n

The longer the commute times, the more stressed and dissatisfied<\/a> we feel.<\/p>\n

Yet without time between home and work, there\u2019s also a downside. As Marchetti wrote: \u201cEven people in prison for a life sentence, having nothing to do and nowhere to go, walk around for one hour a day, in the open.\u201d<\/p>\n

Commuting can be a ritual that helps us psychologically separate home life and work \u2013 switching off from personal concerns in the morning, and then detaching from work worries in the evening. A huge body of research over the past four decades show this \u201cpsychological distance<\/a>\u201d is crucial to well-being.<\/p>\n

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\nRead more:
\nExhausted by 2020? Here are 5 ways to recover and feel more rested throughout 2021<\/a>
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Research also shows that switching from our home to work \u201cidentities\u201d<\/a> carries cognitive demands.
\nA buffer between the two can help make this transition. <\/p>\n

It is possible to achieve this psychological distancing without a commute, of course \u2013 by going for a morning walk and changing into work clothes \u2013 but the demands of both family and work responsibilities often mean we don\u2019t make that time.<\/p>\n

Making the most of your commute<\/h2>\n

So we shouldn\u2019t necessarily spurn the return to the daily commute. Yes, there are downsides, but being conscious of the psychological benefits enables you to maximise its benefits.<\/p>\n

Rather than thinking of it as dead time, think of it as \u201cme\u201d time.<\/p>\n

In the morning, use your commute to plan your day. Research has found this increases satisfaction at work<\/a> and makes longer commutes more palatable. Maintaining small routines<\/a> on the way has also been found to help.<\/p>\n

In the evening, use the time to unwind with pleasurable activities such as reading, playing mobile games, calling a friend or family member, listening to music or a podcast. These are activities you won\u2019t necessarily have time for once you get home.<\/p>\n

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\nRead more:
\nCOVID has proved working from home is the best policy to beat congestion<\/a>
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Doing nothing is good too. Many of us have little time for idle thoughts. Here\u2019s a chance to let your mind wander. Free thought time<\/a> helps to solve problems and inspire creativity. <\/p>\n

And, of course, switch to walking or cycling if you can. Along with the \u201calone\u201d time it gives you, physical activity is strongly associated with higher overall happiness<\/a>. <\/p>\n

You can\u2019t necessarily control the amount of time you spend commuting, but you can control what you get out of it.\"The<\/p>\n

Meg Elkins<\/a>, Senior Lecturer with School of Economics, Finance and Marketing, RMIT University<\/a><\/em> and Robert Hoffmann<\/a>, Professor of Economics and Chair of Behavioural Business Lab, RMIT University<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shutterstock Meg Elkins, RMIT University and Robert Hoffmann, RMIT University For many of us, one of the upsides of 2020 was being freed from the grind of the daily commute. For the 40% of the workforce able to \u201ctelecommute\u201d, COVID-19 social distancing measures saved us an average of about an hour a day \u2013 and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":23749,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,277],"tags":[9289,417,8007],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23748"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23748"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23748\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23759,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23748\/revisions\/23759"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}