Reclaim Your Commute

Getting to and from work doesn’t have to be soul crushing.

by

and

Jochen I. Menges

by

and

Jochen I. Menges

From the Magazine (May–June 2017)

Gabriel Silveira

Summary.

Studies show that long commutes can have a serious negative impact on workers’ wellbeing. But with a few small tweaks, it’s possible to improve the commuting experience. In this piece, the authors offer five research-driven strategies to make your commute more pleasant — and productive. First, use commuting time to shift between your personal professional mindsets. Second, spend some time planning for the day to increase your productivity. Third, focus on what you can control. Fourth, find ways to make the commute a more socially engaging experience. Finally, if you’ve done everything you can and your commute is still making you miserable, consider reducing or eliminating the commute entirely by moving, changing jobs, or coming up with a flexible work arrangement.

Every day, millions of people around the world face long commutes to work. In the United States alone, approximately 25 million workers spend more than 90 minutes each day getting to and from their jobs, and about 600,000 “mega-commuters” travel at least 90 minutes each way, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In the United Kingdom, the average round-trip commute takes 54 minutes (up from 45 minutes in 2003), and in most of the world’s major cities, from Milan to Manila, it’s over an hour.

A version of this article appeared in the May–June 2017 issue (pp.149–153) of Harvard Business Review.

Francesca Gino is a behavioral scientist and the Tandon Family Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. She is the author of Rebel Talent and Sidetracked.
francescagino
Bradley R. Staats is Ellison Distinguished Professor of Operations at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, where he is the faculty director of the UNC Center for the Business of Health and senior associate dean of strategy and academics. He is the author of Never Stop Learning: Stay Relevant, Reinvent Yourself and Thrive (Harvard Business Review Press, 2018).
brstaats
Jon M. Jachimowicz is an assistant professor in the Organizational Behavior Unit at the Harvard Business School. He received his PhD in management from Columbia Business School. He studies how people pursue their passion for work, how they perceive passion in others, and how leaders and organizations seek to manage for passion.
JL

Julia Lee is an assistant professor of Management & Organizations at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.
Jochen I. Menges is a professor of leadership and human resource management at the University of Zurich and a lecturer of organizational behavior at the University of Cambridge. He directs the Center for Leadership in the Future of Work.

Reclaim Your Commute

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