The Power of Commuting
Since the start of this school year in September, my workweek has been split. One day a week, I work at a secondary school in the city where I live, about a five-minute bike ride from my home. The other four days, I work at a university in the capital city, with about an hour of travel time from door to door.
I mentioned this to a colleague in the staff room at the secondary school. I told him about the split, and he seemed a bit surprised that I was commuting such a long distance four days a week (because yes, it adds up to two hours a day). Isn't a five-minute bike ride much more manageable?
Yes, in terms of distance it definitely is, but there is one big advantage to that relatively long commute. On the day I bike home in five minutes and make the physical switch from work to home, it’s actually not enough time for me to make the mental switch as well. I don’t about you, but I can’t go from work-mode to free-time-mode in just five minutes. When I’ve put my bike back in the shed and walked through the front door into my living room, I may be home, but work is still slowly leaking out of my head.
That hour of commuting isn’t so bad. On those four days, I walk out of the university through the revolving door, hop on the metro for a few minutes, and then sit on the train for a while. Headphones on with some music or a podcast, or maybe a book to read. And most importantly: much more time to leave work behind and welcome the free hours of the afternoon and evening. Hours that really feel like free time, not secretly filled with lingering work thoughts.
So, the journey from work to home is not just physical. It’s more a mental one. One I certainly can get used to.