Like many metro areas, Long Island is a commuter’s nightmare. We have three major East/West highways, a couple of minor ones, and a whole bunch of local highways with lights about every 50 feet. A closure of any one road can ruin the commute for hundreds of thousands of people. Any one of our three aging railways encountering an issue adds tens of thousands more commuters to the mix, and that happens a minimum of three times per work week. We don’t have bus lanes, so commuting by bus is roughly the same as commuting by car, except you get free refills of coffee and a smelly bathroom.
For longer than I care to remember, I commuted by car to work. My day consisted of waking up at six AM, checking the traffic. Showering, dressing and eating breakfast all while watching the traffic. Getting in my car and battling traffic. And ultimately fighting the same fight in reverse at the end of the day. Most days I’d be lucky to spend an hour in the car each way.
At the peak of my commuting hell, I drove an average of one and a half hours each way every day for five and a half years. Looking back, I’d spent roughly one waking month of my life sitting in my car doing something I hated to go to a job I hated even more.
For the past four glorious years, I’ve worked from home full time. The only time I drive in rush hour is when I have to fly somewhere for work. Each morning while I make breakfast, I watch the news with a perverse smile as they report on the traffic snarls around the island. I wonder how I ever did it and why. I guess I just didn’t know any better.
Remote work has gained in popularity in the past few years. It used to be like finding a unicorn when you met someone who worked from home full time. Now it’s pretty routine for me to meet people who work, at least part time, from home. It has its pro’s and con’s, which I wont get into right now, but the time, energy, and stress saved from not commuting is life altering.
My mornings are amazing. I still wake up at six. I straighten up the house from the night before, I spend about ten minutes stretching, then a light work out. Depending on my mood I’ll either read while having a coffee or play a video game for a bit. By 7:30 I’m doing a quick buzz through my work emails, knocking out the easy tasks, while making sure my calendar is laid out for the day. When my kids wake up at eight, I already have breakfast going, and the whole family eats together before I head to my office to start my day in earnest at nine.
The time spent with my family is worth any amount of water cooler chatter or after work happy hours. The stress I save not battling traffic twice a day, and the money/wear saved on my cars is noticeable. If ever you’re offered the opportunity to work remotely full time, I urge you to consider the intangibles and give it a try.
Freed by 50 