Working Conversations Episode 3:

Why You Need to Commute, Even if You Work From Home

When the pandemic began, so many people found themselves working from home.

 Some found it very beneficial to be able to work in the comfort of their home, and others found it very challenging.

 Well, one of the things that many have lost in this work-from-home setup is having no commute. On its surface that may seem like a good thing.  However, a valuable transition time is lost. The commute is a critical liminal period in your day -- that time when you are crossing a threshold of leaving your personal life and entering your professional life.

 You might not realize this, but yes, your physical commute not only serves the purpose of getting you geographically from Point A to Point B (at least it did before the pandemic!), but it also serves the purpose of getting you psychologically from Point A to Point B.

In this episode, I unpack the practical qualities of the commute – beyond transportation – and share creative ideas on how to add a commute to your work-from-home life.

This episode is still valuable for you if you still have the physical commute and you are not working from home. You can adapt most of the tips and techniques that I share in this episode to your current commute to make it more intentional and more useful.

 Listen here or wherever you listen to podcasts. Get ready to take in the ideas for both a morning commute and an afternoon commute, so that you can spend the liminal period in your day in a useful and helpful way to really maximize that time.

 You will be a better contributor, a better colleague, a better leader, and a better human to those outside of your work life if you can disconnect from work and really BE with them.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Clever Fox Planner - I use this as part of my evening commute. There is dedicated space to evaluating my productivity for the day, and I queue up my top priority items for the next day. It gives me a great sense of closure to the day.

https://www.amazon.com/Clever-Fox-Planner-Daily-Premium/dp/B08634VDQB/