Commutes and long drives to work seem to be universally hated and everyone wants to be right next to their job. I’m actually the opposite.
I need to listen to my music, wake up and have at least a nice 30 min drive to work to be fully operational when I get out of the car and go to clock in.
It sets the tone for the day. If I lived right next to my job I actually think I would show up late more often and be groggy more often because I didn’t have my drive and wake up time
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I get to do all that in my office after my 10min commute. Make coffee, listen to music, shoot the shit with my one office-mate. It’s pretty nice.
Quality time with oneself is awesome in the morning
I highly disagree! Have my upvote. This is truly unpopular
Well it’s depends on if the commute is bumper to bumper traffic for 30 minutes or a relaxing highway drive. I agree that some commute is nice to get yourself in a working mood, or decompressing before you go home. If I’m stuck in traffic I’m just going to be annoyed lol.
This is a good unpopular opinion!
I like long drives on my own terms. Being obligated to do it twice a day is more of an inconvenience than it is enjoyable most days.
See how you like it after doing it for 40-50 years.
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I got stuff to do before working so long commutes are terrible
I’ve got a 20min drive with a beautiful view. Wish it was 30. Lol!
If it’s free of traffic and you just keep flowing yes. If it’s completely packed and you’re going bumper to bumper it’s annoying as hell.
I enjoy a nice hour in the morning drinking coffee, walking my dog, watering my plants. I would prefer to spend time by myself outdoors instead of driving in the morning.
I love my commute 30-60 minutes, clear the brain and just drive
Hell yeah, 30 minutes is the sweet spot. You have time to get in work mode and then you have time to digest. It’s almost like meditation.
Great unpopular opinion, because I can see and understand what you’re saying, and yet I totally disagree with you.
Both the forced time wasting aspect, and the additional cost, combined with the many viable solutions (gym in the morning, yoga, steam room, whatever) to get yourself going leave me no choice but to upvote.
It feels like an hour lost everyday because it is..
I used to enjoy my 30 minute ride to work because it was mostly highway and I went against the heavy flow of traffic. But when I had a shorter commute and was stuck in heavy traffic it was frustrating as hell. Now I have a super short 10 minute ride, can’t beat it.
I live across the street from my employer. I use the time I save commuting to get a 20-30 workout in. Get up at 6, get everyone breakfast and lunches packed, do any dishes from night before and put away, workout, shower, go to work raring to go.
What if you could have 20 of that 30 at home alone? My “commute” is like 5 minutes. Instead of dropping my kids at school (which is like 2 blocks) and going straight to work, lately I’ve been sending my kids off and then going back home for about 20 minutes. It’s the only peace I get in the day, lol
I agree. When my bus route got shortened last year compared to the year before, I was pretty pissed. 10 minutes of “listening to music and looking out the window” time gone.
I have about 35 minutes to work one way and I like it, however it is considered one of the most scenic drives in America (#23).
That being said, about a quarter of time I’m definitely ready to get home and wish I lived right next to work.
I’ve had 30 minute urban commutes and they are awful, I’d reject that 10 out of 10 times. Rural commutes only.
10 minutes tops, if I choose work at the office that day.
I listen to music on my headphones all day. I drink coffee at my desk.
No reason why I should add more unpaid time to my work day.
I enjoy my 3min
I probably wouldn’t mind a commute if it was consistent. I have to leave home really early to avoid traffic but somehow there’s always a mess on the way home. They close every road for construction at the same time and some asshole always has to rush out ahead of everyone to cause an accident. If I stay an extra 30 minutes at the office, it actually costs me 45+ minutes because traffic is getting worse the longer I wait to leave.
A 15 minute no highway commute would be good. 15 minutes by bike would be perfect.
So you’re getting behind the wheel groggy, not fully operational, and not awake and that’s a good thing?
I don’t mind my commute for the same reasons, but mine is via train.
I used to do 2 hours on the subway and I honestly loved it. I averaged 1-2 books a week.
I can do all of that before my 10 minute commute. I don’t see why i should be in a car any longer than absolutely necessary. If you’re driving before you’re “fully operational” you’re a problem on the road. This sounds like a stupid excuse to not be accountable
You could do all of that at home.
I live where I work, on-site building maintenence, and I literally have zero commute, I walk out my door and I’m in the building. I’ve had 1 hour drives to work, 30 min drives and even 10 min drives… what I currently do is infinitely better hahaha.
I drive a back road to work and love it.
In traffic or low to none?
I just wake up earlier. I’d rather not be driving for 30 mins both ways.
On today’s edition of Make Up Shit You Don’t Even Believe Yourself For The Sake Of Having A Post
Driving into work at 3:30 in the morning is actually kind of nice. I have about a 40 minute drive and I’ll listen to audio books or true crime or music and it gives me time to think. Driving into work at 3:30 PM (I work swing shift) fucking sucks. Construction on the highway has made traffic so bad at that time of day.
You can just go for a walk. The having to do this is what sucks
It really does depend on the commute. I can get to my job in 40 ish minutes and it’s not bumper to bumper traffic. It’s nice.
But if that same 40 minutes was bumper to bumper traffic it wouldn’t be as nice.
Realistically it takes me less time but I like having a little time buffer just in case. I usually get to work and have some time to chill in my car before clocking in.
This is insanity to me. A half hour on 75N makes me want to kill myself so it isnt a very good way to set the tone
Commutes are fine, it’s the horrible drivers on the road that make it unbearable.
I don’t mind longer commute either, even though I don’t drive, I take the bus. Between working and studies it’s been around a decade and a half, still fine with it.
It’s my ‘alone me time’. Meaning I can just… exist for a while with nothing but my own thoughts. There’s no chore to be distracted by, no person trying to strike up a conversation, no pressure to be social or to do something productive with my time. I just put in headphones, oftentimes without any music just to cancel out the noise, and think about all the stuff I want to think about in peace. It’s nice.
A truly awful opinion, have my +1
Did my boss write this?
Or you could just walk or bike
Have an upvote sicko
You know you could always circle around the neighborhood or town to increase your commute while having a shorter min. commute for days when things get tight.
Or take a walk while you wake up and listen to music. that would be safer, healthier, cheaper, and better for the environment.
No one wants you “waking up” on the road, especially during rush hour
Yeah I don’t mind it too much either.. what I dislike is more so having to pay for the cost of gas and adding mileage to my car everyday from the drive. If those 2 things didn’t exist, it would be better lol
I actually prefer a 30 min drive to and back from work too, especially in the afternoons. It gives me time to decompress from work jamming out to music before I come home to the wife. If I didn’t have that commute, I’d be bringing all my negative work vibes home with me. The commute helps me keep all that crap out of the house.
I am scared to drive near you in the mornings then.
I live near a major city, but not in it. I work in IT and there is tons of work available for decent salaries there. I choose to commute, but I would kill for 30 min. That’s actually how long it takes with no traffic (like if I go there at 3am).
What it takes for a 8/9-5 is minimum 1.5 hours, up to 2.5 (worst case like bad weather plus accidents) with 2 hours or close to being the norm. 2 hours one way is 4 hours round trip. 20 hours a week of commuting. So essentially an unpaid 2nd part time job.
When I think “commute time sucks”, this is what I picture. Not 30 min.
You must have hookers and blow in your car to enjoy it that much. It’s just more time spent doing something that you otherwise wouldn’t be doing that you also aren’t compensated for. Bonus points if you get stuck in a traffic jam, pulled over or some clown gets into a road rage incident with you.
Walking or riding a bike for 30 minutes is far better and accomplishes the same thing. Spending 30 minutes in a car is the last thing I want to do.
I generally agree with those points. I have a rule that I wouldn’t commute more than 30 minutes each way. My current job is a 24 minute commute. No traffic.
My hack, since I’m salary, is my work day starts the moment I walk out my front door and ends the moment I leave my office.
I suspect the unspoken part is, “I live with other people that I need to get away from for a while, and my commute is the only time I can justify it.”
As someone who lives .7 miles from work, I happen to like saving gas money lol.
My morning drive is 15 mins max and my afternoon drive home can be 30 mins. I much prefer the 15 min drive.
I worked about a three minute walk from my home for a while.
It was absolutely heavenly! If I wanted more time to listen to music or something before coming home I’d just walk a little detour through the forest nearby.
Just the flexibility of saving over an hour each day that you’re not getting paid for and being able to pop home and change after work or get something I forgot at home during a break was great.
The problem is that’s you. Having to fight traffic and THEN be some kind of positive whatever for 8 hours is a no for me, not a humane expectation and I wouldn’t do it. Nor do I have this expectation for other people.
I actually enjoy my though drive to work both ways, Crank up some music and relax. Though my drive is not city, if I had to drive in a city I think I’d loose it lol.
I am of the same opinion. I like to listen to podcasts to and from work, and like the lack of control. It’s like, I have nothing else to do other than listen to the office ladies or a dnd podcast and drive. I don’t need to worry about how I use that time.
Except in some countries a 30min commute to work costs you 1h of work and you ain’t getting paid for it.
I have a 36 mile, 42 minute drive to work. It is half in the highway, and have back roads. I have a good car, get 38 mpg, and spend about $40/week in gas. I’ve put 21,000 miles in my car in about 14 months.
Music, while something I enjoy, isn’t something super important to me in life. I don’t enjoy podcasts too much. The traffic moves but the overall drive is more stressful than I’d really like.
I wish I had a 10-15 minute drive at most. I’d save on gas and time and overall energy for myself. I’d be less stressed every day getting to work as well as getting home.
Kudos to a truly unpopular opinion.
When I was in college, I had an internship where I had to drive down PCH for about 30 minutes, and it was my me time. No roommates, no classmates, just me and a nice playlist.
I too like spending extra money on gas instead of doing all this extra shit at home not in the car
Bullshit
You’re on to something OP, but take it next level: I have a 30 minute/5 mile bike ride commute, 75% of which is on a trail along water. All of the mind clearing, getting ready vibes OP speaks of, with zero emissions and adequate physical activity for the day
“It sets the tone for the day” – Fuck yeah, gotta love this totally mind-relaxing tone of being trapped in traffic-jams, while my car literally burns $30 in gas.
That gorgeous tone.
Man imagine riding the train so you don’t actually have to focus on the commute
Depends on many things. How fast you go and how many miles. It is nice but here’s the thing.
Miles! More maintenance and more money on gas. Say you are offered a job both same pay range. Ones farther away and ones in town and 5 mins from you.
Not only that you have to wake up earlier than others. Job 5 mins away can wake up at 7:30 and get ready in 20 and leave at 7:50. Job at least 30 mins away, you need to wake up early for. Prob 6:50. It’s such a drag. I had to get up at 6 am every day to make a 30-45 min commute because the highway had tractors at time and sometimes made me late asf. I’d rather wake up later and not worry to much of wondering if a tractor is gonna slow me down.
I have found needing a 20-30 minute commute on the way home. When I have worked 15 minutes from home I don’t have time to decompress. It led to me coming home still in “work mode” and talking to my wife like a co-worker, not a spouse lol
Took us a little bit to figure out why I was acting different on arrival
I’d rather wake up at the same time, and have 30 minutes to listen to music and wake up in the comfort of my own home for a job that’s closer to me. I don’t really see how the car is the best place to do that.
I wake up at 5:30 – 6 AM but I don’t need to be to work until 8:30. This gives me more than enough time to wake up, make some coffee, make some breakfast and do anything I want before I have to leave.
Same, I really don’t mind it. But 45 mins is my max, I’ll admit it does suck when you’re running late or if you had a super long day and just want to get home. Besides that it’s not that bad.
Yes, the better place to be groggy is while driving
I kind of agree. Mine isn’t too long nor too short. About 20 mins early in the morning to listen to tunes or a podcast.
I do enjoy the drive back though, rocking some music and taking in the scenery of the farm fields. Lmao
And like another person mentioned it depends on the commute. Rural is cool just watch out for deer, but city traffic bumper to bumper? F that.
On days where I’m really exhausted and just needing that time to wake up and face the day it can be therapeutic I won’t lie…but I’m never gonna be like yea please give me work that’s far away
Upvoted because this is indeed an unpopular opinion, but I get it.
I work for my local city government and my typical workplace is a 25-35 minute drive (or ~50 minutes on buses) from home. But sometimes I fill in when the location 2 blocks from my house is short staffed.
They’re expanding the nearby location soon and I’ll probably apply to be there permanently. But yeah I expect to add some kind of buffer/me time into my routine when my commute is 3 minutes long. Maybe having my morning coffee at the shop in between, or doing the crossword in the park on nice days. (Or most likely, just getting ready early and then vegging at home for a while before leaving.)
It’s disorienting to have been in bed 20 minutes ago and to now be dealing with co-workers and the public.
You could still wake up early enough to get your energy up before work when you live close too.
You can get everything you are talking about by just having a morning walk. Many homeworkers do this.
I agree. I’ve worked jobs two mins away and hated it. I’m just not ready to work straight away in the morning. I’ve been driving 30 mins to work for 2 years now.
My commute to my office is shorter than a single song on the radio and I’m perfectly okay with that. I like being able to come and go as I please
I can literally get to and from my office in 6 minutes
That’s bc you think a 30 minute drive commute is long
I dont think people dislike long drives but they dislike the traffic. I prefer 1h driving without traffic compared to 20m in traffic.
I only ride my motorcycle or bicycle to work and I absolutely love my commute. I feel like a scab lol. I’ve had to take the car every now and then and it sucks. Couldn’t imagine doing that every day.
Hey if you have nothing better to do with your time than commute for free, that’s a personal problem. Don’t drag us into it. I have a life.
I drive on a long stretch of road for about 25 minutes to work – I meet up at 5am so it’s usually dead quiet on the road when I’m driving.
I have previously driven over an hour to work on the busy highway, basically bumper to bumper traffic and that shit is actually mind boggling frustrating and annoying.
I take the train into city. We blow by bumper to bumper traffic on the interstate every morning and afternoon. I spend the time reading.
Driving would be fine it wasn’t bumper to bumper. And if my building didn’t charge $40 a day to use their garage.
I don’t enjoy the commute but I always hated working from home. I always felt like I was living at work. The geographical separation helped me unwind.
Driving without traffic is fine, with traffic is hell
We used to live very close to work, my wife was literally across the road from her employer. When her work was kinda crazy, she would come home pissed off and still fretting about work.
When we moved, it was a half hour drive home. That half hour drive gave her enough time to switch from work taking up her attention to the mundane thoughts of the world – what are we going to have for dinner
I normally drive ~60-90min one way for work. I was on a job close to home with only a 15min drive and it was nice but I was upset when I was falling behind on my podcasts and I’d get to work and not be finished with my coffee. I think the post is more about having along time to chill in the morning than about driving.
I had a 45 minute commute to work, and a 60 minute home at peak traffic time. I just recently moved and now have a 15 minute commute, and while you’re right that I am late more often, I won’t ever go back if it’s in my power. Long commutes in bad traffic is exhausting, and I didn’t have the same energy to do stuff after work like I do now.
I used to live right next to my work(I can see the building from my front door).
I would wake up early, do my morning routine and get ready, then sometimes if I had spare time I would go for a scenic drive while drinking my coffee and listening to the radio.
It was a waste of resources, but very chill way to start the day.
I work from home, but I like to wake up in time to do exactly what you’re describing – a gentle easing- into- the- day.
I take my dog for a 45- minute walk. Sometimes I listen to podcasts or music, and sometimes I’m just organizing my day in my head. My dog enjoys this time and so do I.
I never understood people that need time to wake up. Isn’t that why you got out of bed
I love working from home. I do not miss driving to work at all. I listen to music and podcasts all day.
Mines like 12-15 min. Just enough time to listen to a little talk radio while I game plan my morning. I agree with OPs premise but 30 is too long.
Ok cash app me gas money?? sike
i had a one hour highway commute to school for 2 years and i LOVED it .. no traffic hold ups, just hit the highway, pop on cruise control and ride.
i could drink my coffee, my hair would dry from the shower by the time i got to school.. listen to the news.. it was delightful.
my current commute is 27 minutes on a highway and its okay! just about enough time to get my brain online
I don’t mind having a 45-minute commute each way, but if I could make my commute 5 minutes each way, I would definitely do that. I mean, I know I can, but it’s cheaper from me to live 45 minutes away, and it’s a nicer place to live, too.
I feel like this I get this from my morning walk I do with my dog
I used to have a five minute commute for a decade or so that allowed me to get away with some bad habits at home. Now I’m commuting 30-45 with no traffic and tunes bumping in the morning and it puts me in a way better mood
I think context is crucial here. I enjoy driving my car and listening to music but most of the time there’s nothing relaxing about it and is instead more annoying/stressful if not just boring wanting to be home already. Personally driving is the biggest waste of time during my day that I would rather use on something else. Including the drive, my mon-thurs are about 14 hour days total so I’m always wishing there were more hours in the day.
I just like not living anywhere near coworkers
My last office based job my commute was either 15 minutes highway with potential for traffic or a 35 min all backroad type drive.
Depending on the weather, mood, how the day went, I would alternate between the two on the way home. Going to work was always highway. Too many school busses in the morning.
I don’t mind a 30 minute drive.
I mind a 45 minute sit in stand still traffic where we all go a mile or two an hour for long stretches.
As someone whose daily commutes have included: 20 minute biking(in high school), 90 minutes (uni) and 35 minutes (pt. job) on public transit, and a 30 minute drive (last job) and who now works from home(current job), I definitely prefer working from home.
That said, the only commute I hated was 90 minutes on transit, it made me absolutely miserable and definitely motivated me to skip class more often than I should have. All my other commutes didn’t bother me that much, at a certain point it’s like a meditation session. Just listen to some music and have time to yourself to just exist and reflect on life or you know, you could read a book or play a stupid game on your phone…
And of those modes, transit and cycling are the best experience. The only reason that 30 minute drive didn’t suck was because it was there was zero traffic 90% of the time. Otherwise, driving blows.
I’d much rather a short walk or just a short commute in general, take the upvote.
Thrown on some jams and have coffee. Underrated!
I would rather get to work 30 minutes early and just chill in my car.
I only like my 30 minute drive in the morning because it’s 5 in the morning on the weekend and there’s zero traffic. My 15 minute drive for my previous job (that’s an 8 minute drive at 5am) at 8am was atrocious.
If I could live 30 TO work and 5 minutes BACK, that would be ideal. And if my car got 100 miles to the gallon and could drive 100k miles before any extensive repairs and the roads were good and other drivers didn’t suck.