5 Ways to Reduce Your Long Work Commute

April 25, 2016 / Written by Corporate Suites Staff

How many hours do you devote to work a day?

Better question: How many hours do you devote to getting to work a day?

Commuting is a dreaded but necessary part of most people’s lives, but if you’ve had enough of those long hours headed to work, then it’s time to get make some choices and get creative. Ready to half the time?

Live Closer to Your Place of Work

The best answers are usually the most obvious, and even if the modern age, the most effective way to cut the long hours moving in between Point A and Point B is simply shortening the distance. However, this comes with its own host of difficulties, especially if buying a house in a certain part of the city is expensive or the options available to you are unappealing. In this case, it’s time to get creative.

Rent an apartment temporarily

If you’re new at a place of work and just getting adjusted, or are invested enough in your job to make the sacrifice and get closer, renting out an apartment temporarily will give you the flexibility to test out the field and still give yourself time to run, and it can also be the cheaper route until you can find a more permanent and satisfying place to stay.

If possible, choose an office that’s closer

If you happen to be the business owner, and especially of a startup still getting its flight feathers, you have a whole new range of options. Moving your office space or store closer to your home now, before it becomes too big, can cut through those dreary hours in the car and those traffic jams that make you consider violence or unemployment. Depending on where your employees are located, you can even make this shift beneficial for the entire business, allowing them to save on commuting costs and perhaps accept adjustments to their wages as a byproduct.

Work Remotely

More and more people are working remotely than ever – not only because working in your PJs is awesome, but because it eliminates expensive gas, train ticket, and taxi fare costs. By working remotely, you can get rid of those hours staring at the metro train wall and also save yourself money; and sure, there’s the PJ advantage too.

Work from home

When working from home, the greatest commute you have is walking from your bed to your desk or your kitchen to your couch. Those are five seconds which don’t make you homicidal – unless it turns out your roommate ate the last of the chocolate in the fridge. By cutting into your commuting time and allowing you the comfort of your home, you’ll perform better at work – and businesses know this, giving you a greater chance of negotiating this with your job.

Work from an internet café

This takes away the PJ option nine times out of ten but still offers you a huge cut on your commuting time. There are internet cafes everywhere and only one office, so the odds of finding one closer to your home are in your favor. A fifteen-minute walk to a cup of coffee, Wi-Fi, and a quiet corner to get work done is a huge reduction from a several-hour car or train ride, simply to sit at a desk and do the same thing.

Leave Before the Rush

The drive home may even be relaxing for you, but not when there are dozens upon dozens of drivers on the road, each more intent on getting back to their Netflix and beer than you. Rush Hour is the supervillain of the nine-to-five worker, and dodging it all together can turn a three-hour commute to a one-hour drive.

Leave home earlier

If you’re a morning person, or simply don’t want to be a bored-stiff person, leaving an hour or so early can ensure you are to Point B before everyone else gets the same idea. This also gives you time to enjoy a cup of coffee or get emails in order before actually starting work.

Leave work later

If getting up early is less appealing than being stuck in traffic, or you simply want to reduce your commute time even more, leaving work an hour or so later can ensure the lemmings are well on their way home before you ever step out of the office. Now you can enjoy a leisurely journey home.

Negotiate a Shorter Work Week

If you can’t shorten your commute time on a day-to-day basis, then you can think bigger and evaluate the entire week. Rather than taking on a two-hour journey every day, you can negotiate with your boss to work on-site only four or three days a week, saving up the money and the time of these other days to even out the whole.

Prove you can do more in less time

If you believe that you can get as much work done from home with only a few days at the office as you can full-time at the office, then it’s time to convince your boss of the same. Laying out your work history and pinpointing the advantages of working remotely can show that work will remain consistent while taking a burden off your shoulders. If you work even better remotely, this can be an advantage to the business, gaining greater quality while cutting on the costs of full-time desk space.

Use Public Transportation

Aimed at getting a lot of people to a lot of places – and fast – many public transportation routes cut through the shortest parts of the city in the speediest fashion – much more than your car could, no matter how you pride yourself on your driving skills. By taking a train rather than your car, you can dodge Rush Hour, save yourself long-term costs, and take shortcuts where typical roads can’t, significantly reducing into your commute time.

No one likes commuting. If you’re looking to save yourself some time and money, these five ways will send you in the right direction to halving the journey.