“Commuting Hurts Productivity and Your Best Talent Suffers Most” is not only the title of an article from Harvard Business School but also an important consideration as society readjusts post-pandemic, even if slowly, from working at home to returning to the office.
Are people more effective, efficient, and creative at home or in the office? How important are “water cooler” conversations for yielding innovations? How draining is driving? While the pandemic has stimulated discussion of workplace productivity, now academic papers have focused on the related topic of long commutes.
This insightful Harvard research sampled 3,445 inventors and 1,180 firms’ patents. The data gleaned, using both the quality and quantity of patents produced as well as the frequency of use by others, showed that longer commutes diminished creativity.
Dr. Andy Wu, the main author of this study (interestingly done pre-COVID) which focused on innovation’s relationship to commute time, shared, “For inventors with long commutes, any distance you can reduce the commute, you can gain in innovative productivity.” Not “killing time” behind the windshield can be used productively for work, recreation, and/or family.
Looking at further research, long commutes have at least the following five negative consequences, according to Keck Medicine of USC. The physiological repercussions are a tendency towards obesity and increased waist measurement, both associated with hypertension, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
- Decreased exercise time—an hour spent “on the road” is an hour not spent walking or in the gym.
- Interference with socialization—traveling for fun is not appealing on the weekends because so much time is already spent in a car during the workweek.
- Poor sleeping—strain from commuting diminishes the quality of sleep.
- Exposure to pollutants—the more industrialized the city, the greater the pollutants in the environment.
- Increased stress—sitting in traffic and maintaining attention while driving cause mental and physical tension.
Currently, most organizations and workers balance working from home with using the traditional workplace. Folks who will be rarely going into the actual office can sustain moving further away, still keeping their total weekly commute time shorter. Possibly, new communities may spring up, attracting residents who do not need to always work face-to-face.
Corporate culture and commerce have already changed due to COVID. This Harvard Business School study suggests that yet unforeseen opportunities and challenges await workers and businesses in the coming transition. Staying both connected and flexible will be the mantra to thrive going forward.
