Why I wouldn’t reduce the length of my commute

We often think of commuting as wasteful and inconvenient. But is it entirely negative? Mark Pack argues that the time he spends commuting is in fact valuable.

He cites research for Transport for London, in which 69% of commuters described their journey as worthwhile. 47% said their would even miss their journey if they did not have to travel.

When I was a student and when I first started working, I had to commute for between 45 and 90 minutes one way, depending on circumstances. 3 hours a day could often end up being more if there was a problem with public transport.

Over time, I have trimmed my commute time down to around half an hour. At first that was a half hour drive. Now I am tremendously lucky to have a half hour walk to work. This also makes my commute my main method of physical activity.

I always have always tried to make that time productive by listening to podcasts. I also value having a buffer between home and work. It helps me get my head in (or out of) the game. I would never cut my commute down to less than half an hour.