The loneliness of that long-distance commute

COLUMN: Paul Hopkins

There was a time when those of us living in the metropolis thought that no life existed outside the Pale, other than the 'poor' farmers and the descendants of those whom Cromwell had confined to hell or wherever. Ignorance prevailed in no small manner.

Prosperity brings its own rewards. The growth of the State, the fledgling economy with its upward and downward trends and the catalytic leap forward brought about by the Celtic Tiger, despite the resultant fall-out, saw growth on an unprecedented scale, not least in the expansion of urban sprawl, so that counties like Wicklow, Carlow, Kilkenny, Louth and Meath became, effectively, satellites of Dublin.
The 2016 Census showed that Meath, the eighth most populated county in Ireland, was one of the fastest growing counties in the country with its population growing by 5.9% in five years to 195,044. The opening up of borders within the EU and subsequent migration also played no small part in the population growth of the new Ireland.

While the rural population this side of the Shannon has grown in tangent with our prosperity, with more city dwellers opting for a more sylvan setting, and in turn, rural folk turning their backs on traditional work on the land for the 'big jobs' that better education affords. Despite all this, the mechanisms of State and big industry have still not been largely decentralised. The jobs, the money are in the cities. Which brings the downside of this exponential growth. The dreaded commute to and from work, or even college, that has become the bane of many of our lives. Meath Co Council's survey the other week saw almost half (48%) of Meath commuters working outside the county, saying they are hitting the roads before 7am most days. A further quarter leave before 7.30am daily.

Kevin Stewart, Deputy Chief Executive, Meath County Council, said that, from the data received to date, 80% of commuters work in the greater Dublin area with an average journey time of 65 minutes. More than 85% of the county's residents said they were happy where they lived and almost 90% were interested in working closer to home and flexible working hours. "Local business, family and personal lives can be adversely affected with so many people taking long commutes to and from work every day,” says Kevin Stewart.

"I've been doing the hour plus commute for six years now. Six years now in a car along the M50. I'm getting sick of it," says Tom, as we share a pint. "These more than two hours a day are beginning to grate on me. I'm promising myself next job will be under 30 minutes away, but that's easier said than done. Time's too precious!"
And he quips as his sips his pint: "I'd say anything above 45 minutes and you're looking at fairly significant quality of life impact."

The negative impact of the long journey goes well beyond the feeling of frustration we all experience when we’re on the move. More than one survey suggests that a lengthy work commute is a major contributing factor in people leaving their jobs in favour of one that’s more convenient, with one reporting that 23% of workers have left a job because of the inordinately long journey to get to work.
Being stuck in the rush-hour traffic can find our minds drifting to negative, even aimless thoughts. The long journey can leave us feeling exhausted even before we reach the office. Given how physically and mentally draining it can seem, it’s hard to find any positives to the journey. Perhaps, though, there can be an upside.

Research at Columbia Business School suggests turning this process on its head. In his paper entitled ‘Between Home and Work: Commuting as an Opportunity for Role Transitions,’ Jon Jachimowicz suggests that concentrating on upcoming work projects as well as future career path, rather than, say, the state of your finances or the baby going to creche, that such thinking and planning is less likely to leave you feeling drained.
I'm blessed in that I have worked from home the past few years, but there was a time when I commuted from north Meath to Dublin and sometimes Belfast. However, I can't imagine anything more debilitating than, as Jon Jachimowicz suggests, concentrating on work and future prospects while on a long commute with 155,000 other hapless souls on the M50. The eight hour day is long enough without work intruding on my time to just idle by and watch the world turn round.

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