I live 35 miles from where I usually work. Not so green, huh?
I used to live much closer to work, but it was in a place with few public transit options. Then I became all gaga for ecogeoman and we decided to move in together. Ecogeoman, having only a driver’s licence from Far Off Land and having heard horror stories about frivolous law suites in America, doesn't drive here. Just as well, since he can't really afford a car. There is no (well, very, very limited) access to my workplace via pubic transportation, but ecogeoman's work has great access to public transit. So, we moved to a really wonderful neighborhood from which ecogeoman can either a. get a ride with me b. take public transit or c. ride a bicycle. We figured I had to drive to work no matter what, so living where he could get away with no car made up for my new 35 mile commute that would be 45 minutes in pristine traffic. He was happy, but I was rotting in my car for 1:15 twice a day since traffic is usually lousy.
Then in January, the lab hired a new technician who lives very near to me and doesn't have a car. She began riding with me and after a few months, we added another person. This one has a car so we take turns driving. However, he has to be home at a certain time to relieve his kids’ nanny. At first, I didn't want to get involved with this man because I felt resistant to the responsibility of daycare issues when I don't have kids yet. But, it's well worth it. The nanny’s hours force us to leave early in the morning so we can be back early in the evening, letting us beat the worst of the traffic.
The downside of carpooling is that I can never stretch the day if I'm in the middle of something. If it weren't for the nanny issue, I could ask my carpool buddies to wait 15 min for me to wrap up, but if we're late, the nanny is disgruntled and gets overtime pay. There is no flexibility.
The upsides are many. The commute is much more environmentally friendly, we save money, and I spend less time in traffic than I used to. Interestingly, it has made me more efficient as well. Knowing that I will have to leave at a certain time means I plan my work better and don't goof off as much. I used think I could just stay late if I wanted to surf the web or something, but now staying late is not an option. I have become better at judging what takes 8 hours of work, which has helped me set more realistic goals, at least short term ones. In all, the advent of my carpool was a positive change in my life. I highly recommend it.
7 comments:
Man, I so wish I could carpool to work, but unfortunately I am required to work overtime at my job, and I never know what time I'll be able to come home at night. Also, no one lives near me at my work anyway. Luckily, my commute is only 15 minutes, 20 in traffic, so it's not too bad.
But you are right, it is so easy to procrastinate if you think you can stay as late as you want. I find that if I know I have to leave at a certain time for some reason, I am much more efficient.
I would have never guessed that anyone from work lived near me, but the company has a webpage to match up potential carpoolers. You can put in your zip code and it will give you a list of people who live near by. That's how I found one of the carpool buddies -- he works in another department and I didn't know him before.
Hmm...this post may have inspired me to write one about commuting. Mine is ~25 miles each way and can be done in 20 minutes when there's no traffic, no bad weather, and most importantly, no cops! :-)
I can totally understand what you mean about getting things done better/more efficiently with set "end of day" deadlines. I live as far away from campus as you can in LargeUtown (a whole THREE miles away ;) ), so my bus only runs until 6:45 pm. Although it's annoying to be on such a set schedule, it has helped me keep better sleep hours (and by better i mean 2 am - 7 am...grrrrr) since I get home at reasonable hours.
Ditto on having to leave work at a certain time. As a grad student, it is so easy to fall into the procrastinate/work all the time, and never really have guilt-free time.
and when you're ready for kids, you'll already be adept at working on a daycare schedule...
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