Comment by iamphilrae | Hacker News Reader

Comment by iamphilrae | Hacker News Reader

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I live in London and a few years ago I used to commute from east to west (Ealing to Liverpool Street). The trip is normally 45 minutes each way on the Central Line, however I would regularly miss out on a seat and be subjected to a cattle-class sweat box that just put me in a foul mood for the rest of the day.

However, being Ealing, I also had the option of taking the District Line to rougly the same place (Tower Bridge). My journery was now 1hr 15m, however with the DL's spacious air-conditioned carriages and guaranteed seat, it was well worth it. It put me in the best state of mind and allowed me to use my laptop to work on my own projects. In 6 months of 2hrs to myself each day, I wrote medistudents.com and still was able to relax at the end of the day and not let software development impact home life. Without the commute and this opportunity to work on my own things, I would have either never found the time for a side project, or p*ssed off my girlfriend for spending all night on the laptop.

Nowadays I either work from home or commute by car. It's just not the same - either from looking at the same 4 walls every day, or regarding time spent in traffic as a complete waste. And my time on my own projects has now essentially reduced to zero.

So if you commute by a comfortable bus or train, spend your time wisely. Definitely don't waste it playing Candy Crush. Take advantage of it for working on a side project, learning something new, or just self-reflection.

Take advantage of it for working on a side project, learning something new, or just self-reflection.

Once I had ditched my FB habit I now use my commutes for EdX on my phone. Doesn’t always work - for some things you really need to be sitting at a desk with a real keyboard and paper and pencil - but it’s definitely possible to make good progress.

I had a similar experience when working in Australia. There was a lot of space for me to pull out my laptop and do some work.

When I moved to Europe (London, then Berlin) the trains were too small and too crowded - Also they usually have seats facing other seats which is distracting. Not private enough for me to concentrate.

I used to commute in Sydney, 90 minutes door-to-door of which ~60 was on the train.

As I would leave early I would normally get a seat and spent that time triaging issues or writing code or just working on my own stuff - it was nice.

I moved overseas and my commute went to 15 minutes on the bicycle - it was much better for my health and well-being as well as being able to have breakfast with my kids, and be home in time for dinner - these didn't happen when I was spending 90 minutes a day commuting.

Since moving back to Sydney our requirements as a family were to find a place that was similar to what we had overseas - short commute for me and walking distance to shops / schools.

Some days I look back on the commute with rose-coloured glasses and the time I had to myself, but I often forget the amount of times I had to forgo social activities or the hours I spent waiting for missed or delayed trains. And of course with my kids getting older I wouldn't give up the time with them to sit on my bum on a train :)

Curious which train service are you referring to in Australia?

Sydney.

Was this a while ago? You're unlikely to get a seat on peak services these days. Even if you do I find them too cramped for actually working.

yet car commuting is great for radio, and podcasts.

There's only so much to listen to. On spans of weeks where I need to drive a daily commute for an hour each way, it eventually gets to the point where I prefer just listening to silence than the same old music or podcasts again.

It takes me back to times in my early 20's where I'd run out of things to do at work so would just get to "surf the internet" - eventually you just run out of stuff that will keep you entertained until the clock finally ticks round to 5pm.

I beg to differ. There are so many things you haven't heard yet. Oen strategy my friends use successfully is ask friends on social media for their recommendations around a topic or topics, or generally what they like in podcasts and radio.

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