A Journey from Work to Home is about more than just Getting There – the Psychological Benefits of Commuting that Remote Work Doesn’t Provide
Five takeaways:
- The average American commuters spends nearly one full hour a day – 26 minutes each way on average– getting to and from work. 7.7% of workers spending two hours or more on the road.
- The pandemic disrupted the commutes of millions, which many were quite thankful for. But as Covid wore on there were surprising rumblings that some people actually missed and valued the ritual of their pre-pandemic commutes.
- Why? A recent study suggests it is because the commute offers us a “liminal space” – a time free of both home and work roles that provides an opportunity to recover from work and mentally switch gears to home (or vice versa). The elimination of the commute costs many people this valuable time.
- The lack of a liminal space usually provided by a commute can cause blurred boundaries between private time and work, which can lead to increased stress levels and lower productivity.
- Those who work from home can learn from this and create their own form of “commute” to build liminal space for recovery and transition. This could be as simple a 15-minute walk to mark the beginning and end of the workday.
by Matthew Piszczek and Kristie McAlpine for The Conversation
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