Commuting more than half an hour a day could take years off your life

This is worrying

From the Editors of Look Words by Will Butler

We already know commuting is one of the worst parts of the day. The underground is so dirty you shouldn't even sit down on the seats, and don't even get us started on how hot the tube lines are. Well, things just got worse.

In 2015, the European Court of Justice, obviously sick of their own commutes, ruled that commuting counts as paid work because if anything makes you that miserable day-in, day-out, you should be getting paid for it. Not that it matters, since our long-haul commutes are killing us. We wonder if there is contactless payment in heaven?

Long commutes (classified as over 30 minutes) can have long-lasting effects on our life-expectancy. Some studies have found that commuting further than 31 miles each way may even shave years off your life, which is a bummer for anyone living outside of the city.

Not that we have to tell you but the people living in Greater London have an average commute time of 46 minutes. But there’s not much people really want to do about that because city rent is insanely high.

However, with season ticket prices on rail services rocketing faster than rent, studies are starting to show that your overall well-being will benefit massively for moving closer to work and paying the premium rent prices.

It’s a hard pill to swallow, but you may like the second option even less. 

The second option is to change careers. It sounds dramatic but don’t underestimate the damaging effects of a long commute. The UK spends more time at work than the rest of Europe so combine that with the fact that you could be wasting up to three hours a day just waiting to arrive in places, what are your weekdays?

It’s easier to cope with long commutes now that we have access to on-demand TV, podcasts, e-readers and offline Netflix but the stresses of betting your punctuality on London’s public transport does irreversible damage to one’s blood pressure.

Commuting isn’t going to go anywhere but we should make an effort to minimise your commutes. Whether that means working from home a few times a week or just getting a job near your house – you’ve got to save yourself from commuting for as long as you can.