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As the exception that proves the rule, I missed my commute terribly and its absence was having a negative impact on me. However, I have a 30 minute bicycle comm

As the exception that proves the rule, I missed my commute terribly and its absence was having a negative impact on me. However, I have a 30 minute bicycle commute, which I think changes everything. The daily exercise, change of scenery, and fresh air made all the difference in the world. I'm probably more productive for my employer at home but I feel way better as a human being when I commute in. When WFH, there were days where I wouldn't even leave the house. I had no idea what the weather was outside. Now I know what you're thinking but no, I couldn't maintain a habit of getting out of the house to do exercise for exercise's sake. The bike commute always felt different because it wasn't primarily about exercise and if you're committed to going to the office, you can't skip it no matter how much you want to. Now that all said, I don't believe any level of car commuting is healthy. Kill that with fire and WFH!

colechristensen 4y ago
>Now that all said, I don't believe any level of car commuting is healthy. Kill that with fire and WFH! I like driving, lots of people do. A nice 20 minute drive is a good commute. Bumper to bumper traffic for more than 40 is hell.
Johnny555 4y ago
I had a 30 - 40 minute bike commute pre-COVID (almost all of it was on off road trails, it was great), and still preferred WFH (which was only allowed one day a week). I moved and no longer have the bike option (taking bike friendly roads would lead to a 90+ minute bike commute), but even an easy bike commute would not make me want to return to the office. I've replaced the bike commute with an indoor spinning bike.
asdff 4y ago
I hated my old commute but I still liked the idea of a commute. So now I walk around my neighborhood for 15 mins or so with a mug of coffee and that's my commute. Maybe for you, you can try and simulate a bike commute by riding a fixed route around your neighborhood every morning.
- Steltek 4y ago
  "Simulating a commute" seems a little silly compared to just commuting as normal? Once you've committed to the time, there's nothing critically deficient with my work-office or my commute that they need replacing. Maybe I also understated how the change of scenery from working in a different place was also helpful. It marks a mental shift between work and home but downtown is also just more visually exciting and interesting than home.
  - asdff 4y ago
    Imo because rarely is a commute to work perfectly ideal. Mine is risky on a bike, so if I were to bike around my neighborhood instead its a lot safer. Also, imo, walking around my mostly residential neighborhood with a warm mug of coffee is a lot less stressful than piling in a car and sitting on a congested freeway for 50 minutes.
nightski 4y ago
Makes no sense. Just go out and bike. I've been WFH for 10+ years and I do this all the time.
- tomtheelder 4y ago
  Switching from in office to WFH turned biking from one of my favorite parts of the day into a dreaded chore. I still do it, but I hate it now. You can't just discount the psychological impact of having to force yourself to do the activity instead of it being an integral part of your daily life.
  - deleted 4y ago
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  - lamontcg 4y ago
    > You can't just discount the psychological impact of having to force yourself to do the activity instead of it being an integral part of your daily life. You're talking about your own subjective preferences and motivations like they're universal constants of the human condition that apply to everyone.
    - tomtheelder 4y ago
      That's an incredibly uncharitable interpretation of what I said. I'm just saying that that the impact something being part of your routine can be a real thing as it is for me, and that the comment I replied to might have missed some of the reason that the commenter they replied to misses their bike commute.
      - nightski 4y ago
        No, that's not really what you said at all. Anything can be made a part of your routine whether working from home or not. What you said is that you can't handle the freedom of choice and need a manager to force those decisions upon you.
deleted 4y ago
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colechristensen 4y ago

>Now that all said, I don't believe any level of car commuting is healthy. Kill that with fire and WFH! I like driving, lots of people do. A nice 20 minute drive is a good commute. Bumper to bumper traffic for more than 40 is hell.

Johnny555 4y ago

I had a 30 - 40 minute bike commute pre-COVID (almost all of it was on off road trails, it was great), and still preferred WFH (which was only allowed one day a week). I moved and no longer have the bike option (taking bike friendly roads would lead to a 90+ minute bike commute), but even an easy bike commute would not make me want to return to the office. I've replaced the bike commute with an indoor spinning bike.

asdff 4y ago

I hated my old commute but I still liked the idea of a commute. So now I walk around my neighborhood for 15 mins or so with a mug of coffee and that's my commute. Maybe for you, you can try and simulate a bike commute by riding a fixed route around your neighborhood every morning.

Steltek 4y ago
"Simulating a commute" seems a little silly compared to just commuting as normal? Once you've committed to the time, there's nothing critically deficient with my work-office or my commute that they need replacing. Maybe I also understated how the change of scenery from working in a different place was also helpful. It marks a mental shift between work and home but downtown is also just more visually exciting and interesting than home.
- asdff 4y ago
  Imo because rarely is a commute to work perfectly ideal. Mine is risky on a bike, so if I were to bike around my neighborhood instead its a lot safer. Also, imo, walking around my mostly residential neighborhood with a warm mug of coffee is a lot less stressful than piling in a car and sitting on a congested freeway for 50 minutes.

nightski 4y ago

Makes no sense. Just go out and bike. I've been WFH for 10+ years and I do this all the time.

tomtheelder 4y ago
Switching from in office to WFH turned biking from one of my favorite parts of the day into a dreaded chore. I still do it, but I hate it now. You can't just discount the psychological impact of having to force yourself to do the activity instead of it being an integral part of your daily life.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- lamontcg 4y ago
  > You can't just discount the psychological impact of having to force yourself to do the activity instead of it being an integral part of your daily life. You're talking about your own subjective preferences and motivations like they're universal constants of the human condition that apply to everyone.
  - tomtheelder 4y ago
    That's an incredibly uncharitable interpretation of what I said. I'm just saying that that the impact something being part of your routine can be a real thing as it is for me, and that the comment I replied to might have missed some of the reason that the commenter they replied to misses their bike commute.
    - nightski 4y ago
      No, that's not really what you said at all. Anything can be made a part of your routine whether working from home or not. What you said is that you can't handle the freedom of choice and need a manager to force those decisions upon you.

deleted 4y ago

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