Long commute

Declan1965

Just recently started a new job that is further away from home, gone from 25mins to 1hour 10mins and it's killing me. I have had to get signed off by gp due health issues with commute.

Have spent most of my life commuting but think I am just burnt out having no work life balance.

Would love to hear from other commuters that suffer from the same issues.

SuperBowserWorld

Spent a lot of my working life commuting at least 1 hour each way. It was always with public transport. Ok in the morning. Get a seat, can read, work, phone etc, but hell in the evening time, standing. Last commute was 3 hours per day easily. Was killing me, especially as I got older.

Luckily covid means I can work mostly from home, but I'm cutting out better career options this way. But **** it, I've wasted enough of my life commuting.

YellowLead

I used to do an hour and a half commute 5 days a week for about 15 years. It was all that I knew and I could read (or sometimes work) for the train part of it and the walk part of it was good exercise. It was tough going in winter at times all the same but you do what you have to do.

Now my commute is a half hour walk 3 days per week and the thoughts of an hour and a half 5 days would freak me out! It’s all about what you are used to. You will adjust - sometimes we have to suck it up and get on with it. Or else find a different place to live or job, c’est la vie.

magicbastarder

The OP does not state whether the commute is on PT or driving. I used to do two hours to two and a half maybe, in a day on PT and it was fine. I'd have lost my mind if I had been driving, I suspect.

Declan1965

Driving

SuperBowserWorld

Can you arrange working from home for some of the days ?

Trampas

Is it in traffic or not

Declan1965

Peak Rush hour

Ezeoul

Why did you go from a job with a 25 minute commute to a job with such a long commute, when according to your other threads, you have a history of struggling with long commutes?

That doesn't make sense.

Trampas

cycle it. Probably do it in half the time if rush hour traffic

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122344619#Comment_122344619

oh; hadn't spotted that. the OP was doing south kildare to dublin airport in 2021, taking an hour to and hour and 20 mins each way; and was complaining about mental and physical health issues as a result at the time. why go back to that?

Declan1965

Local company closed

blackbox

I used to have a similar commute for many years.

I used to treat it as downtime - I'd relax, listing to the radio or my music collection while sauntering along with the traffic.

It would have been even easier with an automatic car. Radar cruise control might be even better.

Fretting about it won't get you there any faster - neither will trying to find the faster moving lane.

Kurooi

I experienced that, used to commute for just over an hour all the time and I enjoyed it always listened to music treated it as my mental time out. But when work got more difficult, more stressful or life was just moving a bit faster I was upset at the commute. You're eyeing up that hour of commute in as extra sleep you missed, and that 1 hour back as time you could have gotten ahead of chores, been with the family or enjoyed yourself.

I think you know yourself your commute is not the problem as much as the work life balance , if you have an otherwise satisfying day you can spend that commute time better.

mykrodot

that's tough OP, feel sorry for you. I had a commute like that in my mid fifties but it was on trains and walking. It was a bummer and a waste of time but I dealt with it fine, pros and cons, and I liked the buzz of working in the city centre.

No way could I have driven it though! At least on a train, even standing, you can switch your brain off.

Flinty997

Have done long commutes in my youth 1.5 to 2 hrs. But I couldn't do them now. For a long my commute was an hour, and I don't think I could do that anymore.

These days anything over 40 mins seems long.

I'll say if driving an EV makes life a lot easier in traffic and automatic cruise control. I liked cycling. Train ends up being crammed so no fun in that. Ok on a quiet day.

I'm hybrid WFH but I notice on the days I commuting in the office I'm a lot more tired. Its not lifestyle commuting just makes you tired.

I don't think I'll go back to cycling, might go to an electric bike though. Driving through town has become a nightmare.

SteM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122344647#Comment_122344647

This, if its an option for you. Even if you pick up an ebike on the bike to work, it'll make a huge change to your commute. The fresh air will help your state of mind too.

The Nal

Worked in Dublin CC for a year in the early 00s. Had to be on the bus at 7.20am or Id be late for 9am. These days Id need to be on the bus well before 8am I guess. So up and out at 7.30am, home at 7pm.

Live about 15 minutes from town when theres no traffic. Made the decision back then that Im never spending a long time commuting and have stuck to it for nearly 25 years. And Ive basically been working remotely now for 10 years. Life is too short. **** that.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122346236#Comment_122346236

I loved when I was cycling... Must get back to it

Ezeoul

OP I think you need to look for another job.

If the commute is already stressing you out to the point where you needed to be signed off by your GP, it's not working for you.

You found work closer to home before, start looking and keep looking.

I did the 1hr+ commute each way pre-pandemic. I recently turned down a promotion which would have involved a return to commuting at least a couple of days a week again. But I wouldn't return to that lifestyle for any reason, now I realise how much time and energy it sucked from my life. It's not worth it.

Best of luck, whatever you decide.

Flinty997

Not sure I could go back to 5 days in the office. But I think it's slowly going back to it anyway.

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122344647#Comment_122344647

The OP is or was living in South Kildare, if that's still the case it's highly possible the commute can't be cycled.

JVince

I'm guessing the op is in late 50's, so commuting can be a pain in the ass.

I'll state the obvious - change jobs.

However the eased of that can depend on current financial situation.

If mortgage is paid off and no kids to finance, it's easy as you can start winding down and look for a lower paying job with lower stress levels.

If you still have financial commitments, it's more difficult. But one error I see people in similar commuter locations is they only look towards Dublin for employment.

For south Kildare I'd be looking at Carlow, Kilkenny, Portlaoise for suitable positions - all places with a myriad of industry.

Naas is also a growing employment hub.

And don't just think you can do just a specific role. You'd be surprised at what skills you build over the years. A consultation with a job coach might be worthwhile

...Ghost...

My commute is 35-65 minutes depending on traffic. I've been doing it 2 years now having come from a job where I had a work van and most of the time I was driving. Previous to that I had no commute for a couple of years when in college. I've also had the torture of crossing Dublin city in rush hour traffic for 2 hours every morning.

The time of my commute is less important than the route and the traffic.

The route:

If the route has lots of twists, turns and traffic lights, it's OK for a short time, but becomes tiring very quickly. I despise having to drive in urban and city environments, so doing this as a commute would be a no-go. I'd much prefer double the commute time on a motorway. You either change your work location, or your home location to fix this.

Congestion:

This is what I find most stressful. If I am in rush hour traffic, the journey is just torture. You can feel the stress, anxiety and frustration of nearly everyone else around you. This is compounded when there is an accident, or breakdown, or if some climate activist feckin eijets are holding a protest causing traffic displacement and further congestion. You can change the time of your commute to mostly resolve this.

My Commute:

I seriously considered my current job location before accepting it. I had an old Nissan Leaf, so needed to upgrade to a longer range EV if taking the job. I chose to work 35km (by road) outside of Dublin, but I still have to travel some of the M50 toward the city as part of my commute and if I leave 5 minutes at the wrong side of 7am, the journey can go from 35-40 minutes to over an hour. Leaving at the right time is crucial, with some leeway on a Friday and a little breathing room on school holidays. If I get stuck in traffic, it's a stressful journey where I take evasion actions to cut some of the traffic, rather than just sit back enjoy the journey.

The route is straight forward. Once I am out of my housing estate, I contend with 3 roundabouts, 3 sets of lights and a straight run for 5 minutes before hitting the M50. 3 exits later and I am onto a dual carriage-way and motorway for a few more minutes. 2 more roundabouts on regional roads, a couple of turns after that and I am at work. I use auto-pilot in a Tesla 90% of my journey. When I drive our Leaf on occasion to work, I notice I am just not as fresh after the journey.

So, in essence, what I am saying is do what you can reasonably do to cut out as much of the "drive" as possible. That might mean adjusting your start/finish time if possible. Changing cars is a big one, but was important for me for a few reasons. I needed enough range to get to and from work on a single charge. I refused to go back to petrol/diesel, so it was a big expense at the time with a car allowance helping towards that. If the commute is hurting your health and you can't make practical changes, then you need to change jobs.

rowantree18

I'm not wishing to be unsympathetic, because how people view things is personal to them. But honestly - I'd say at least 50% of working people have an hour's commute each way. It's really not excessive. They may not be on public transport an hour but most people probably have 15 minutes walk on either side and maybe 30 minutes on the train/bus/tram. And a lot of people would drive an hour - a 15 minute drive can easily be an hour at peak times. I drive 50 minutes door to door, I listen to podcasts, radio etc. Doesn't bother me. I could live pretty much exactly where I work. But I live where I love and the commute is the price, small in my view. Going into over an hour and a half each way - yeah, would be draining.

Flinty997

I think you have enough of something no matter what..

The Mathematician

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122346644#Comment_122346644

In fact it is much less than that, it is quite unusual to have a commute of an hour or more:

Ezeoul

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122346644#Comment_122346644

I think the pandemic brought about a major change in how a lot of people feel about long commutes / commuting times. It was certainly a wake-up call for me.

I'd been commuting into or across DCC almost daily since the age of 17 to the age of 50, and I did it because I had to and knew nothing else (though I was finding it hard by the time I hit 50 and had cut down to a four day week to offset the tiredness). At the time the pandemic hit, my commute time was minimum 60 minutes and regularly more each way.

WFH gave people (and me) a taste of a better way of doing things. Now obviously, WHF is not possible in all occupations. But I know I will never willingly go back to that. Not even part time.

To the OP, you said in a previous thread that you'd cut down to a three day week. Is this an option in your new job, (until you find something closer to home?)

rowantree18

Is it really uncommon to have an hour's commute? I don't have the figures so can't dispute you, but surely most peopke wouldn't live smack bang beside a dart station/bus etc and would have a bit of a walk to it plus another walk at the other end which bumps the actual commute up as opposed to the amount of time spent on the bus/tram/train? I'd know very few people whod start at say 9am and can comfortably leave the house at 8.30am.

_Kaiser_

I've recently started a job that has a 2 day in office/3 WFH model and I feel the OP's pain. Due to changes in my last place though I had to move on.

The split in my last job was at my own discretion so I used to go in maybe a day a week but outside of peak hours (as I could still be productive en route by joining calls in the car). Door to door was maybe 50 minutes most days.

Now I have a commute of 90 minutes minimum each way and a 12 hour day and it's a struggle - especially as there's no real reason for me to be in the office anyway. In fact because of the nature of most of my calls/meetings, they're better done from home anyway (open plan offices just don't work in a lot of cases). I think this is what's annoying me most about the whole thing.

Moving closer isn't an option because of rent/property prices but I'm not sure I'll last too long at this TBH.

The Mathematician

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122346885#Comment_122346885

The figures I posted are the Census figures: https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-cpp7/census2022profile7-employmentoccupationsandcommuting/commutingtowork/

Of course it is possible that what people put down was not accurate, but I think it is the best data we have to go on.