Is the commute worth it?

emzippy

Hi All,

I just have a question in relation to a job opportunity that has come up.

I am currently in a full time permanent job and live a 10 minute drive from work (however part of the role also involves a lot of driving around the county).

The problem is - I really don't like my current job. I have already been off for 5 weeks on stress leave this year and it looks like nothing is going to change. In a nut shell, I am expected to do the work of several people in a high stress environment and have had no manager for the past 3 years as she is off on sick leave. Things have been so bad that I've considered getting my union involved. On a daily basis I am dealing with physical symptoms of stress solely due to work.

I recently applied for a job and have been offered an interview. It's a full time (same salary) temporary 2 year contract and the job is an hour commute each way on the motor way. Now there is no guarantee that I will actually get the job but I work in the health service and I only have 48 hours to decide to take the job once it is offered so I feel I need to be making my decisions now.

Do you think this commute is too much? The 2 year contract is in a totally different specialism to what I currently in. I'm much more interested in this new job and while I haven't worked in the area before, I would really welcome a change. I really feel that I can't continue in my current job due to the levels of stress.

Taking all this into account would I be mad to leave a permanent job so close to home to commute for 2 hours per day for a 2 year contract.

Any opinions are much appreciated!

ligertigon

If your commute involves tolls, you can deduct at least €400/month travel expense. So your pay will drop.

I commuted for the last 13 years, and am like a new person after stopping, for me, I never minded till I stopped, and wouldn't do it again.

I'd say sort out your issues with your current job.

Eoin

If you're that stressed out with the current place, and you're confident that the new place will not make you ill then I think I'd be inclined to take it. I appreciate it's the guts of 1.5 working days a week extra spent away from home, but it doesn't sound like it's sustainable for you to stay where you are.

It sounds like you obviously need to leave your employer, so the question really is if you don't take this job, will you find one with a shorter commute easily enough?

For what it's worth, I left a job with a pretty handy commute to a new one where it's probably an extra hour and a bit a day, but I just adapted and I don't really think about it because I prefer going to work in the new place.

St. Leibowitz

A commute is what you make it. I was doing a commute many years ago which I hated. Before the M50, and through the city. About an hour each morning and evening. One evening, I stuck a Billy Connolly tape in, and the time flew by. I started making tapes of various comedy shows and albums (Scrap Saturday, Billy Connolly, Monty Python, The Two Ronnies etc.). The list will show my age, but the point is that I ended up sitting in the car when I got home waiting for a story to end ... a story I had already listened to the week before. The commute actually became an enjoyable part of the day. Fun time just for me. Think how you could make a couple of hours yours, and you'll grow to love it. Positive Mental Attitude really does work. If you get into the car or onto the bus with a feeling of dread or drudge, it'll be hell.

Working in a high stress job will have a significant negative effect on your health and relationships. Again I speak from experience. I'd take a commute that you can control and accept over a high stress job with no support from management any time.

doolox

My dad knew a guy working as a solicitor who used to tape his notes and play them in his car during a long commute so that time revising his course notes was done while driving.

_Kaiser_

I've lived locally and commuted and both have their benefits and drawbacks IMO

Living locally means you're close to work sure, but if you're working in Dublin you'll pay dearly for that in most cases. If you're also close to friends/family or other activities then maybe it's worth it.

I now commute just under 200km return each day and more at the weekends. It's 99% motorway though and I have flexible hours so I miss the worst of the traffic (and the muppetry on the roads!) I find it a nice way to unwind on the way home, or wake up on the drive in - but then I like cars, have a nice comfortable A6 that eats up the mileage, and listen to music or catch up on the news as I drive.

The only downside really is its not cheap.. as well as the extra fuel (at current prices about €110 a week in diesel I reckon - but that includes my weekend runs which are another 400ish km), you have added servicing costs as it needs doing more regularly, consumables like tyres will need changing more often, and if you're paying tolls they'll add up as well.

But against all that I have a nice 2 bed apartment in a quiet settled estate on the edge of one of the bigger towns (so all the shopping and such isn't an issue) for less than half the price it'd cost me to rent a similar one in Dublin.

sashafierce

This post has been deleted.

Alkers

What are you living arrangements at the moment? Are you renting / owner occupier and how flexible to moving are you?

bloominballix

A one hour commute is not very long tbh. It took me longer than that getting the bus home to Tallaght from town!

intheclouds

I would have seen an hour as a reasonably normal commute tbh.

In your shoes I would take it, you can always keep looking around if it turns out not to suit you. The fact is the current job is causing you a lot of stress and that is having a negative impact on your health. I dont think Id be interested in staying somewhere so stressful that I had been out on stress leave over it. Life is too short for that carry on.

Kintarō Hattori

A one hour commute, I'm envious OP. I leave the house at 7:05, walk 25 minutes to the train station. Take the 7:38 train and get into Connolly at 8:22 then hop on a Luas to get off at Smithfield where I finish with a 10 minute walk to work. Yes technically the commute sucks. I'd like if it wasn't so long but I really like the job and the people I work with so I don't mind the commute so much.
As others have said, make it a part of your day that you just accept. Use it to relax, listen to your albums again, turn on some talk radio etc. Previously I had worked in a job for 10 years and I had found myself becoming bored by the position. I wasn't developing, never met anyone new (small office) so took the plunge going into the new role. I was nervous as it was a massive change in environment but it was the best thing ever. If your current job is making you ill, get out, take the 2 year contract. If you find it's not for you at least you have time to plan an exit.

miezekatze

I had a similar commute for several years a couple of years ago. It's doable, and like others said you can't let yourself get stressed/impatient about it, just accept it as part of your day. If you like the job then that's more important.

Having said that though, I wouldn't be keen on doing it again and have declined job offers in the past if I found the commute too long. It's ok for a 2 year period though.

witchgirl26

I agree that a commute is what you make of it. I know people who listen to audio books in their car on the commute & then pick up the same book if they want to actually read it later & just skip ahead on the CD when back in the car. I learn my words for my choirs songs by playing line-tapes of them in the car. Other people I know use it for catching up with family & friends by making a call (on a handsfree) on the way home.

Honestly if your current work is making you that ill than something has to change and I don't think that keeping a shorter commute is worth all that. Yes it'd be lovely to have both but ultimately would you end up better off health wise with a longer commute is the main question. If the answer is yes - then I think it's obvious what the choice should be.

_Kaiser_

bloominballix wrote: »

A one hour commute is not very long tbh. It took me longer than that getting the bus home to Tallaght from town!

Spot on..

I lived in Cavan for a while and live about an hour away from Dublin now too and everyone says "what? That's mad! That's MILES away!!"

But what they don't seem to grasp is that hour is spent at motorway speeds and that you can easily spend as long (if not longer!) getting out of town to Blanch or Tallaght at rush hour.

emzippy

Thanks so much for all the feedback.

As one poster pointed out I'm based in Galway but the commute is an hour door to door on the motorway.

Since posting I have actually spoken to a good friend and colleague who has seen all that I have been through in work this year and she has also advised me to take it if I get the job and that I'd be mad not to.

I suppose I used to commute but that was 1.5 hours each way on awful country roads so I think that's what's putting me off but I really need to put my health first on this one as I know I can't stay in my current job.

Thanks for all the input

hardCopy

An hour on the open road or on a train would be pretty painless. If it was an hour in bumper to bumper traffic on the M7 to Dublin at peak time I'd have second thoughts.

I live 8km from work and it often takes 40 minutes to get in, because I have to pass about 6 schools and start work at 9am. The nature of the driving would be more relevant IMO than the total time.

Wabbit Ears

Calculate your costs in commuting (petrol , tolls and add a second annual car aervice and full set of tyres) and include paying yourself for the additional time. (Work out what you earn an hour and multiply that by amount of time commuting.) Now ask yourself if that drop in pay is worth it.

Also, if you have kids ask is the loss of time there worth it. I've turned down jobs that pay fantastic for this reason alone.

hardCopy

hardCopy wrote: »

An hour on the open road or on a train would be pretty painless. If it was an hour in bumper to bumper traffic on the M7 to Dublin at peak time I'd have second thoughts.

That's what I was gonna say, too.

If it really is an all motorway journey then you're laughing. Download a few podcasts or whatever you're into and make a bit of fun of it. I'll be laughed at, but on my longer drives I started downloading RTE Radio 1's radio dramas

Not something I ever thought I'd like but there you go. If you're in bumper to bumper traffic you'll get no joy out of the drive, but on the motorway, especially if your car has cruise control, you'll be laughing. Freshly buttered slice of toast on a plate in the passenger seat and a fresh cup of tea in the cup holder and you don't even need to have brekkie at home


Unless the commute adds a fair bit of pain to the financial side of things, I'd not really consider the commute itself an issue.

Get out and go for a spin in the car for an hour tomorrow, and see what you make of it!

emzippy

Hi Everyone,

Thanks again for all the feedback. I just wanted to let you know that I've been offered the job and am going to accept it

While I'll be financially a bit worse off and commuting an hour each way to work I don't think I can put a price on job satisfaction and being happy in work. I do think this new job will be less stressful and more enjoyable so I'm going to take the plunge.

Thanks again for all the comments and advice!

St. Leibowitz

Congratulations, well done, and hope all goes well.

Make the commute your personal time, and get into the mindset of looking forward to it and it'll fly by. Enjoy.

And thanks for the update.

the_syco

emzippy wrote: »

the job is an hour commute each way on the motor way

If your car doesn't have one already, I'd advise getting a connection so that you can hook up your phone/MP3 player to the car stereo, to have a full selection of music.

If at all possible, look up alternatives, such as rail or bus, in terms of cost of fuel as opposed to cost of monthly ticket price. Some companies offer tax-saver prices. Not having to commute can allow you to turn off for the hour each way, and either listen to music, or an audio book, or just read the book.

I used to watch a TV series on the train and bus when on a long commute; it really did help pass the time.

allibastor

Used to do an hour or more train ride each way each day.

In that time I learned to speak a conversational level of 2 new languages, read over 200 books. Learned the theory side of engine repair on a car, oh, and had good time to make the perfect CV to get a new job.

lazeedaisy

Congrats on taking the job

I suggest you go to your library or subscribe to audible.com and listen to some books whilst driving, I love them

DanielODonnell

It depends on what roads you drive as I had an interview an hour away today and it was just non stop narrow country roads and potholes, there was also chunks of snow falling from the trees onto the windscreen. You need to concentrate the whole journey hence listening to the radio wouldn't make a difference, it would probably just increase the risk of crashing.