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Comment by lbeltrame | Hacker News Reader

It depends on the person. For me the commute was the "moat" I built to detach my mind completely from work related matters until the next day.

Personal experience matters a lot, too. I did WFH for two years in 2009-2011 and it was mostly fine. Now, although not optimal by any means, I endure my 1h 15 min commute daily. After being locked down in my house for more than 70 days in 2020 while having a very stressful work experience I could not escape from, I don't want to WFH ever again.

Others may have different experience and goals.

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> For me the commute was the "moat" I built to detach my mind completely from work related matters until the next day

You seem to have made a positive outcome happen out of a negative situation. If there wasn't the commute, you would have built that moat through different ways without losing time every day. And the cognitive cost.

You chose to see a negative situation where there isn't one. Having to go somewhere by itself is neither bad nor good, it's what you make out of it.

You missed the point of the parent comment.

If you can make a positive thing out of commute, you will be better without commute.

At worst, you can easily go take a bus to somewhere if commute is so important.

No, you missed the point of my comment. A commute can be a positive thing. Not having a commute can be a negative thing. It depends on so many factors that claiming all commutes are bad is at best childish.

Nobody stops you from taking a bus everyday...

Do you really need to take a bus to work to reap that benefit?

Again, this is an insane argument. Just because you don't enjoy an activity doesn't mean everyone else is the same. Just because you've designed your life so your commute is miserable doesn't mean everyone else's is as well.

Your argument is ridiculous. You basically say that, if you have 30 minutes free, your life will be worse. At worst, you can easily spend the free 30-minute commute. At best, you can figure a more productive activity for you. This is what parent comment tried to point to.

I would love to have a shorter commute, of course (my old job took 35-40 mins which was optimal for me). But even 10-15 minutes would work. I would be fine even walking to be honest.

But to me it is neither negative nor positive. Just a "transition".

Yeah I build that moat now by reading a book before work and exercising right after work. A lot better than the horrid commute I used to have.

Me, I just run the bathtub at high heat and full volume for an hour to steam up my bathroom. Sure it costs a few dollars and wastes tons of resources, but I need that rushing waterfall ambiance to unwind...

This is of course a joke. My point being that wasting resources to clear your mind sounds crazy when it hasn't been normalized for decades.

Find another way to build that moat.

Tangential but I hate this “wasting resources” narrative that people are adopting. How do you propose we determine what uses of energy and material are a waste? Please provide a detailed list of all of the consequences of enacting such a policy.

Nothing is anything if we just redefine things and argue in circles.

I think you would understand waste more if you had to directly work to generate the goods being wasted.

Gasoline, electricity, heat, water, wear and tear on parts... It's all effort, and spending it needlessly is wasteful

I didn’t say I was opposed to improving efficiency. I’m opposed to people dictating which uses of energy are waste and which aren’t. That’s really the point being made, intentional or not, when you say that uses like commuting are just normalized waste. If that wasn’t your intent then you should argue for a more efficient way of satisfying that demand instead of trying to do away with the demand.

This thread is that though... The OP above you talks about how much time and energy is spent moving humans to specific locations to do work that doesn't depend on being in those locations. In any world where that had not been normalized it would be considered highly inneficient and similarly wasteful.

Why? It's not a waste of resources for me (I forgot to mention I'm located in Europe and use public transport).

It is miles better for my mind (and for me: everyone is different) rather than having lingering thoughts about work (after having a breakdown in 2004 due to burnout). And it would remind me of the lockdown, too.

So, for my own personal work life balance commute is better than WFH.

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