Mondays are viewed, as the first and most dreaded day of the week for many in the corporate world. Think of this, after a weekend off, the arrival of Monday means having to spend hours driving to and from work. And, if there are accidents along the way, it could represent a delay in the time you arrive at the office. And, for those of us with kids and, depending on their age or grade, they have to be driven to school, which of course, means extra time in the car. Let’s not forget there are swaths of the population who either work from home or, are within walking distance of their employment. However, for the ones who partake in the daily commute whether by choice or otherwise, this trend despite HOV lanes, carpooling and other government initiatives is showing no signs of abating.
An article by Jessica Stillman, contributor for Inc.com titled, ‘If You Can’t Change Your Commute, Here’s How to Make It Way Less Awful’ highlights a study that deals with ‘The science of a happy commute’ and, reads in part;
“Researchers out of Columbia University rounded up 154 British commuters and then randomly assigned them to two groups. The first group just continued commuting to work as they always had, answering questions about their happiness levels, commute times, job satisfaction, and emotional exhaustion.
The other group, however, received a text message each week prompting them to use their commute to reflect on the day to come and plan some aspect of their work. They too answered question about their travel and moods. After six weeks the experiences of both groups were compared.
While nothing had physically changed about either group’s commute — the traffic was just as snarled, the train just as unreliable, etc. — their subjective experience of their commutes differed significantly. The planning group showed significantly increased job satisfaction and decreased emotional exhaustion.”
Of course, some people love their daily commute and spending a couple of hours or more a day driving to work does not bother them. If you are not one of the fortunate ones, within walking distance of work and depending on what you do, you could you could seek permission from your boss to work from home a day or two out of the week. Telecommuting always makes for a heated debate with those who are and against it. Let’s try this simple rhetorical question; why would a company ask its sales personnel to commute daily, only to sit at a desk for the purpose of make phones calls, to prospective customers? In the age of cloud computing, video conferencing and VOIP technology, this example exemplifies the definition of insanity or a company with an outdated thinking.
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