Do you miss your commuting time and that lost chance to listen to an audio book in traffic, to binge watch your favorite show on the bus or to finish that page-turner on the train?
Despite the steering wheel-gripping, expletive-inspiring, delay transit-eye rolling, missed train or bus frustration that the coronavirus spared many employees from, a Harvard Business Review article said commuting is beneficial.
Sorry if you were drinking something when you read that.
The daily slog to and from the workplace has payoffs, the Review argued, by giving us structure and certainty, instead of going from breakfast table to Zoom meeting. Having to commute again restores purpose to our lives and allows us to prepare for the work day, it said.
Unmentioned were the savings in time and money from not having to commute.
We asked some experts and commuters if commuting has benefits we’ve missed. An immediate positive is commuting provides boundaries between work and home, especially for working parents, said experts interviewed.
“There can be (benefits to commuting), it allows them to get their mind set around where they’re going,” said Dr. Elizabeth Lombardo, psychologist and author. “During the pandemic, there weren’t boundaries in terms of location work location, so there wasn’t a time for work or home because it became one. For a lot of people that caused more distress.”
For others, working from home can be a positive thing and the thought of a commute is stressful, she said.
“(My) optimal commuting distance was 30 minutes,” said Christopher Andrews, Drew University Associate Professor and Chair of Sociology, and Co-Director of Business Studies. “It let you decompress and transition from work to home. It’s like a daily ritual. For some, it’s their quiet time.”
The benefit comes from how to use commuting time to wind down from the workday, by listening to audio books, music or reading to de-stress, Lombardo said.
“The commute can allow that,” she said.
That buffer time is especially important for working parents who face child care and domestic tasks when they get home from the job, Andrews said.
While the drop-off in commuting and automotive traffic during the pandemic was great for the environment, the 45-minute highway commute made by Dr. Roseanne Mirabella Executive Director of Seton Hall’s Center for Community Research & Engagement, was missed during the pandemic.
“I missed my car time,” she said “I have kids and a husband and that was ‘me time.’ I’d listen to NPR or music. A lot of us are missing it.”
One Northeast Corridor line commuter returned to commuting in the past few weeks and reunited with what he missed.
“I actually missed the commute, particularly the afternoon ride. It gives me ‘space’ between work and home and time to read, watch Netflix, which I missed out on for the last year,” said Robert Diamond, who commutes between Princeton Junction and New York. “I could do without getting up early for the morning ride, but it’s worth it.”
Commuting for the last few weeks has been much less stressful than pre-pandemic times with plenty of station parking and empty seats on the train, he said.
“I definitely get much more exercise on commuting days. Apple Watch fitness tracker concurs,” Diamond said.
But not all regular commuters asked on the Delayed on NJ Transit Facebook group painted as rosy of a picture as what one NJ Transit rider called “forced downtime.”
“I would use it to read, learn music notes or a language or listen to a pod cast,” said Martin Brennan II of Yorktown Heights, N.Y. “This doesn’t outweigh the negatives of getting up an hour and half earlier, dealing with the delays and stress and confined spaces of people.”
Others such as Rob Aitken said he used his commuting time as entertainment time when riding Montclair-Boonton line trains.
“I am a heavy digital media consumer watching TV shows films and mini series on the train,” he said. When he commuted by car, Aitken said his choices were limited to audio media.
“The commute time overlaps story time so when I get home, it’s time I can spend with my wife vs. turning on the TV,” he said.
Heidy Sime has been working from home since March 2020 and commuted to New York from Clifton for 8 years before that.
“At first it was great. Delays were minimal. I used the time to watch shows, read, nap,” she said. “But over time, the delays and overcrowding weren’t worth it. I had a child and was spending less time with him due to the delays.”
Former rail commuter Chuck Walsh said a hidden benefit was the walk to and from the train station.
“Most of us don’t walk to specific destinations,” he said. “Commuters are forced to and I think thats a hidden benefit.”
Other commuters said they’ve read less and lost some nap and exercise time while working from home.
Experts said the positive side to not commuting was having a more productive work day when travel was taken out of the equation, Mirabella said.
“It was much more predictable when we’re not traveling to work or from meeting to meeting,” she said. “I’d finish a 10 o’clock meeting and go right into my 11 o’clock meeting, it was so much more productive.”
The downside is no separation between work and home, especially if the “office” is steps away in your house or apartment, experts said.
“What’s bad is there are no boundaries and that is a mental health issue to explore,” Mirabella said. “If the workplace is your house, you’ll answer 15 more emails or work on that report past 5 p.m.”
Most experts agreed that employees who worked from home during the pandemic were more productive and worked more hours.
“The research says reduced commuting is something everyone thinks is a great benefit, think of the hours spent getting ready to go to work, dressing appropriately, the actual travel time. All that time is used on a more productive way,” said Professor Bill Castellano, Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations.
Commuting time was repurposed for work or into flex time for family obligations, but one phenomenon was people work longer hours from home and are getting burnt out, he said.
“People are connected 24/7 from home and research says they’re working longer,” Castellano said.
What if you have no choice but to return to the commute? Lombardo recommended some tips to take the stress and anxiety out of the trip, starting with preparing for the workday before getting on the road or catching a bus or train.
“Learn new ways to make the commute as easy as possible,” she said. “Make sure you plan ahead.”
That can start with selecting work clothes the night before, getting enough sleep, eating breakfast, even leaving early, so you’re not already stressed out before you leave the house, Lombardo said.
“On a (stress) scale of 0 to 10, if you get in the car at a 7, that’s in the red zone and a high level of stress,” she said.
If you’re already in the red zone, Lombardo recommends listening to a guided mediation, even if it’s just for 5 minutes to calm yourself.
“Mediation is a powerful tool to reduce stress and many people don’t think they have time and don’t know how,” she said.
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Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com.