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Longer commute time is highly correlated with unhappiness. I think scientists even determined a number for how much more you would have to earn to compensate fo

by Tichy 14y ago

Longer commute time is highly correlated with unhappiness. I think scientists even determined a number for how much more you would have to earn to compensate for extra commute hours.

pantaloons 14y ago
Do you happen to have a link? I would be interested in reading that paper.
- praptak 14y ago
  This article summarizes some of the research, unfortunately no direct links to papers (should be google-able via researcher names): http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2011/05/your_commute_is_killing_you.html http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2011/05/your... Found link to the commute-divorce paper, Erika Sandow Umeå University "On the road. Social aspects of commuting long distances to work.": http://umu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:415050/FULLTEXT01 http://umu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:415050/FULLTEXT01
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- joefarish 14y ago
  An interesting article from the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markeaston/2011/02/happiness_work_sleep_and_bicyc.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markeaston/2011/02/h...
- Tichy 14y ago
  This article seems to have some links to papers: http://lesswrong.com/lw/7am/rational_home_buying/ http://lesswrong.com/lw/7am/rational_home_buying/
- lrobb 14y ago
  I can't seem to find it now, but I seem to recall that dropping from 1 hour to 20 minutes was worth a 30-40 pct reduction in pay. http://www.quora.com/What-studies-have-been-done-on-the-effect-of-commuting-on-happiness http://www.quora.com/What-studies-have-been-done-on-the-effe...
jmspring 14y ago
I know, in my case, there isn't a direct 1:1 correlation between hourly rate and hour of commute. The calculation for determining that calculation (at least in the context of the study) would be interesting.
arethuza 14y ago
Over the last few years I've had jobs that had a 1 hour drive each way (which I hated), a 5 minute walk (which was too close) or a very pleasant 25 minute walk - which seems to be a sweet spot for me - allows me to listen to podcasts/audiobooks and have a gentle context switch to/from work.
- Tichy 14y ago
  I also like it if it is 20 to 30 minutes by bicycle. That way I already get some exercise in for the day.
  - arethuza 14y ago
    Ah yes - I did have a job years ago where I had a 12 mile cycle to work (generally uphill and into the prevailing wind) and there was the opportunity to go for much longer offroad cycles in the Pentland Hills in the evening.
  - Evbn 14y ago
    So far, this is great. Worried about winter, though.
bane 14y ago
Goodness is this true. Early in my career I worked some positions that were great career-wise, but terrible commute-wise. I simply didn't know what a difference a short commute made in quality of life. Over the years I went from a 2 hour commute down to a 20-30 minute commute and I couldn't really see going back. It really restricts that places I can look for work as I love where I live, but the tradeoff is worth not spending 2-5 hours a day stuck in my car doing really a bunch of nothing. There really is a limit to how much music and audiobooks you can tolerate day after day.
- Axsuul 14y ago
  Autonomous cars can't come soon enough!
  - cabacon 14y ago
    That will be nice, but it's still not a sufficient trade-off for duration in your day, unless your time spent in the autonomous car counts as part of your work day. I liked the idea of taking the train into the city instead of driving to my current job, partially because I had this fantasy about how I would be able to use my time on the train productively, as opposed to just driving. But, the thing is, the train trip into the city is 1 hour, and the drive is 30 minutes. And the train schedule is dictated by people who work 8 hours in the office; taking an off-schedule train is a much worse proposition. So even though I gain the time on the train (which is probably not as valuable as I think it is) I still lose out on the rest of my life for having 1 hour less per day to spend completely electively. So, yeah, I'd like it if my car drove me into work so I was free to do other things. But I would still value a 30 minute autonomous drive much more highly than a 1 hour autonomous drive.
    - andyking 14y ago
      I thought this, too, when I started a job in a city centre for the first time - great, I'll take the train, and get so much work done on my commute instead of driving! No - it's impossible to work on a rattly, wobbly old train, standing up, or crushed into a seat with some guy's elbow digging into you. You can barely read a book or Kindle on there, let alone whip out a netbook and work. So it's just wasted time every day.

by Tichy 14y ago

Longer commute time is highly correlated with unhappiness. I think scientists even determined a number for how much more you would have to earn to compensate for extra commute hours.

pantaloons 14y ago

Do you happen to have a link? I would be interested in reading that paper.

praptak 14y ago
This article summarizes some of the research, unfortunately no direct links to papers (should be google-able via researcher names): http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2011/05/your_commute_is_killing_you.html http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2011/05/your... Found link to the commute-divorce paper, Erika Sandow Umeå University "On the road. Social aspects of commuting long distances to work.": http://umu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:415050/FULLTEXT01 http://umu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:415050/FULLTEXT01
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
joefarish 14y ago
An interesting article from the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markeaston/2011/02/happiness_work_sleep_and_bicyc.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markeaston/2011/02/h...
Tichy 14y ago
This article seems to have some links to papers: http://lesswrong.com/lw/7am/rational_home_buying/ http://lesswrong.com/lw/7am/rational_home_buying/
lrobb 14y ago
I can't seem to find it now, but I seem to recall that dropping from 1 hour to 20 minutes was worth a 30-40 pct reduction in pay. http://www.quora.com/What-studies-have-been-done-on-the-effect-of-commuting-on-happiness http://www.quora.com/What-studies-have-been-done-on-the-effe...

jmspring 14y ago

I know, in my case, there isn't a direct 1:1 correlation between hourly rate and hour of commute. The calculation for determining that calculation (at least in the context of the study) would be interesting.

arethuza 14y ago

Over the last few years I've had jobs that had a 1 hour drive each way (which I hated), a 5 minute walk (which was too close) or a very pleasant 25 minute walk - which seems to be a sweet spot for me - allows me to listen to podcasts/audiobooks and have a gentle context switch to/from work.

Tichy 14y ago
I also like it if it is 20 to 30 minutes by bicycle. That way I already get some exercise in for the day.
- arethuza 14y ago
  Ah yes - I did have a job years ago where I had a 12 mile cycle to work (generally uphill and into the prevailing wind) and there was the opportunity to go for much longer offroad cycles in the Pentland Hills in the evening.
- Evbn 14y ago
  So far, this is great. Worried about winter, though.

bane 14y ago

Goodness is this true. Early in my career I worked some positions that were great career-wise, but terrible commute-wise. I simply didn't know what a difference a short commute made in quality of life. Over the years I went from a 2 hour commute down to a 20-30 minute commute and I couldn't really see going back. It really restricts that places I can look for work as I love where I live, but the tradeoff is worth not spending 2-5 hours a day stuck in my car doing really a bunch of nothing. There really is a limit to how much music and audiobooks you can tolerate day after day.

Axsuul 14y ago
Autonomous cars can't come soon enough!
- cabacon 14y ago
  That will be nice, but it's still not a sufficient trade-off for duration in your day, unless your time spent in the autonomous car counts as part of your work day. I liked the idea of taking the train into the city instead of driving to my current job, partially because I had this fantasy about how I would be able to use my time on the train productively, as opposed to just driving. But, the thing is, the train trip into the city is 1 hour, and the drive is 30 minutes. And the train schedule is dictated by people who work 8 hours in the office; taking an off-schedule train is a much worse proposition. So even though I gain the time on the train (which is probably not as valuable as I think it is) I still lose out on the rest of my life for having 1 hour less per day to spend completely electively. So, yeah, I'd like it if my car drove me into work so I was free to do other things. But I would still value a 30 minute autonomous drive much more highly than a 1 hour autonomous drive.
  - andyking 14y ago
    I thought this, too, when I started a job in a city centre for the first time - great, I'll take the train, and get so much work done on my commute instead of driving! No - it's impossible to work on a rattly, wobbly old train, standing up, or crushed into a seat with some guy's elbow digging into you. You can barely read a book or Kindle on there, let alone whip out a netbook and work. So it's just wasted time every day.