Ridiculous as it sounds, even before the lockdowns, I missed the commute.
The gentle rocking of the bus, The camaraderie of workers returning home, and the blank stares filling the space. The commute is universally recognized as bad, right?
- It eats into your schedule, robbing you of your life
- It starts your day off rushed and stressed, which limits your performance and happiness
- You share the rush hour traffic with half of the known universe, all competing for the same 10cm in a bus to squeeze in.
- You get infected with every possible ailment your fellow travelers can carry.
And yet, a few times a year, this feeling comes back. Especially during challenging periods of focused work, I sometimes yearn for this transition period that will let me decompress between work and private engagements.
Now when we all are sheltered in place, these boundaries get blurred. We carry our stresses from work to home, because, well, both happen on the same couch!
The unexpected benefits of commuting are much more apparent now During summertime, it was quite enjoyable. I love cycling to the office and am in a fortunate position where I have 8 km of parks between the coworking spot and me.
- On the way to the office, I get my daily fix of cardio and spent some time in nature. I identified some time ago that on the days that I see the trees, my mood goes up.
- On the way back, I sometimes cycle quite slowly, reflecting on the day and some times maybe even sit in one of those parks.
On those exhausting days, the way home lets me decompress and maybe even put a border between times of the day.
- The commute helps switch gears mentally
- Me cycling to work produces mental energy
While stuck at home, you may want to reproduce the benefits of a commute:
After a challenging day, the most appealing thing is to sink into a couch and start the mindless consumption of Netflix. But if you try exercising, you will discover being more rested after the exercise than before it. Your mind will notice a transition between work and rest.
Hopefully, the lockdowns will end, because the commute can be quite OK if you choose it. With a flexible work schedule, going to the office on any given day is my decision, and I can make specific arrangements to avoid rush hour traffic.
Hopefully, I won’t have to always work from home, nor will I have to commute every day. I can choose whatever works for me, and that is the point.
Remote work is exciting, gives plenty of options and lets us live the way we want. But how about the climat crisis? Since I fly so often isn’t a grand vision of remote work saving the environment just a hypocrisy?
Remote work is a solution for many problems and a great opportunity, but it has some downsides as well. Loneliness is one of the biggest. Still you can use work out a few ways to keep your social life and get the best of remote work.
Working remotely does not mean working from home. You don’t have to wear sweatpants all day and shun all human interaction.