How many of you commute more than 2 hours each way to work?

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Cultural_Tank_6947@reddit

If you work in London, and live in one of the commuter villages, it's easily 90 minutes door to door for several people.

But many of those people also make six figures.

So if you're getting offered that, for sure.

If you're getting offered £25k, no chance.

Somewhere in between, not sure. How desperate are you?

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Gulfofsadness@reddit (OP)

This is basically my situation. Its a six figure position but means very little life outside work

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GrabbedByTheGhost@reddit

You've been offered a 6 figure salary and youre quibbling over a 2 hour commute? 🫪💀

Even added onto a 9 to 5 that's still just 7 to 7 which is totally normal.

I'll do it for you if you don't want it

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Longjumping-Gap-5986@reddit

9-5 doesn't mean 9am - 5pm. It's 9hrs a day, 5 days a week.

And do you think 6 figure jobs clock out at 5? No. It's more like clock out when you're dead for most of them. 140k with bonus and I dont think I've logged off before 9pm for a year now

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GrabbedByTheGhost@reddit

9-5 does mean 9am to 5pm that's exactly what the term means and has always meant

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Ehh it's not that good when you value other things in your life. I do this commute (even longer) twice a week and it's draining, I wouldn't blame someone for not wanting to do it regardless of salary.

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GrabbedByTheGhost@reddit

How come only twice a week? Part time? It's probably more manageable if it's not every day

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ScreamingEnglishman@reddit

Hybrid. 2 days in London, 3 working from home

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GrabbedByTheGhost@reddit

Ehh is that still a thing? I assumed that all died a death.

And not jealous at all!

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Wishmaster891@reddit

of course its still a thing, i wfh full time

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ScreamingEnglishman@reddit

Do you live under a rock lol. Most jobs I've seen advertised are hybrid as standard

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GrabbedByTheGhost@reddit

Not under a rock but I where can education so it's not something that will ever be available sadly.

I did genuinely think they'd all been phased back out though

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ScreamingEnglishman@reddit

Ah fair enough. No fortunately not, I can't see it ever returning entirely to the old world for most corporate jobs to be honest

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GrabbedByTheGhost@reddit

Has productivity not absolutely tanked? I remember doing some Covid work from home when I worked in an office and nobody did anything.

That's why I assumed it was now less common

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ScreamingEnglishman@reddit

Nope, what's generally happened (based on the companies I've worked at) is businesses have reduced some team numbers and ultimately increased workload on the employees. If you slack off it'll eventually get noticed. I'm far busier now than I ever was working in the office.

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AdministrativeLaugh2@reddit

Spending 12 hours a day either commuting or at work is not normal and will quickly lead to burnout and exhaustion.

Don’t forget that setting off at 7, which would be more like 6:30-6:45am to account for traffic/delays, requires waking up at 6ish.

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Cultural_Tank_6947@reddit

That's then your choices right. Does it impact your life enough, both in short and long term to say yes?

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Gnome_Father@reddit

Literally several people.

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DingoBingoWimbo@reddit

I did the 90 min commute for years. Made £27k. £300 a month in trains

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Cultural_Tank_6947@reddit

I mean it's easily in the hundreds of thousands.

About 2 million people in the country earn at least £100k, and at least a million commute into London each day, and about 5 million people work in London.

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Disastrous_Apple6070@reddit

I’m on 25k annually, and my commute is an hour total (half an hour there and back), but i genuinely enjoy my job so it feels worth it. before this job i worked from home but my job was telesales and i hated it.

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-info-sec-@reddit

I work from home and struggle to walk the 90 secs downstairs. I don't feel 2hrs is good.

It's 07:41, need to be online for 08:00!

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Nirnroot_Enjoyer@reddit

Never.

I used to do 40-60 min each way, and I swore I'd never do it again.

So much waste time :(

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Cam_Sco@reddit

I did it for 10 years. Then burnt out. That was about 6 years ago. Still struggling, but working again from home for the last 4 years. I'll never do that long a commute again.

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ScreamingEnglishman@reddit

Worth considering if you're commuting in and out of London that your 2 hour commute can very easily turn into a 3-5 hour journey. It happened to me on 2/3 of the last Thursdays

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Rough-Sprinkles2343@reddit

I’d rather watch paint dry for 8 hours 5 days a week than do that.

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ReginaldHollis@reddit

I’ve left jobs over the commute being more than half an hour. A two hour commute each way would be horrific imo

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now-u-see-me@reddit

I can confirm, doing this now and getting paid very well but money it’s enough to sustain the unhappiness

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GrabbedByTheGhost@reddit

More than half an hour? What the hell man that's absolutely nothing 😂 wish mine was that short.

My walk to school was longer than that

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AdministrativeLaugh2@reddit

Was it uphill both ways

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GrabbedByTheGhost@reddit

Absolutely but especially on the way back

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ReginaldHollis@reddit

good for you. Thats not how I want to spend my life. All power to you.

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Distinct-Lion4658@reddit

Yeh it's a part time job at that point (20hr/week)

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Ralucahippie@reddit

How often would you have to actually be in office?

I live in Manchester and my job is in London. 2 hours by train or 5 by coach each way.

Every 2-3 weeks is definitely doable, and that is the "normal" for it. Sometimes I would stay overnight with friends and do 2-3 days of in-person meetings in a row.

One time I had to go to London weekly for about 6 weeks in a row. That's the "too much" limit for me.

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Gulfofsadness@reddit (OP)

Its 5 days a week. 8-5 each day

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AdministrativeLaugh2@reddit

Absolutely not. Starting at 8am means setting off at 6am, perhaps 5:45am to account for traffic/delays, which means getting up around 5-5:15am to get dressed have some breakfast (you won’t want to drive 2 hours on an empty stomach).

Get home at 7-7:15pm on an evening after fighting rush hour traffic, spend some time decompressing and then suddenly you need to go to bed because you’ve gotta be up at 5am.

You’d very likely burn out incredibly quickly and find yourself never wanting to do anything. Is there no chance you can move closer?

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Zealousideal-Low3388@reddit

I did for a month while I was in the process of moving.

It was ghastly.

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Dog-bloke@reddit

I used to commute about 2h 4 days a week. One train and I started off reading or watching iPlayer, but ended up sleeping most days. It had a toll on my health - bad back, eating junk food on the train, not enough exercise. If the role is hybrid then it would be worth considering, but I’d not do it more than 3 days a week.

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Feisty-Revenue-6974@reddit

I’m commuting 1hr and 30 min. I hate it. I’m moving closer in 4 weeks.

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Optimal_Collection77@reddit

I've done it. If you have kids, no chance.

It catches up on you then your dead on the sofa at 8pm. I found I was ok all week but it would get me on a Monday evening.

Honestly do it for a bit then move on if it's a massive pay rise

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WheresMyFlamingo@reddit

I do 8 hours per week and even that's a lot for me

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Vladamir_pootinn@reddit

My commute there and back is 12 mins… it’s hell

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Additional-Nobody352@reddit

2 hours is too long. Can you stay over Monday night through to Friday morning?

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Aylez@reddit

I work from home 3 days a week and drive to the office 10 mins away on the other 2 days.

Half an hour each way would probably be the max I could tolerate, 2 hours is quite frankly ridiculous.

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Phat-Lines@reddit

I commute 1hr train each way, not including 10-15 min travel from home to station and vis versa. So on office working days (I do 2/3 in office 1/3 home) I do about 2.5 hours commuting.

It’s not fun. It means going to bed earlier and getting home later. And it costs me £15.50 in travel everytime I need to go into the office. Which on an all but minimum wage job makes a difference.

If I didn’t enjoy the work and the flexibility it offers in other areas, I’d not be doing it because the commute sucks.

4 hours of commuting everyday would be too much in my opinion.

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azlan121@reddit

As a 5-day-a-week commute? I wouldn't want to drive 2 hours or more each day, train might be ok if there's no changes and not too much onward travel at each end.

I don't have a set place of work, so my travel times vary a bunch, but as a rule, if it's more than an hour door to door, and im there consecutive days, I would start asking for a hotel room. Probably push that to about 2 hours of I'm only there one day.

That said, a 2 hour commute could work, especially if you're doing relatively short days in the office, or only go in an couple of days a week. If it's a job you really want, it's also worth considering if you want to relocate a bit closer to the workplace (maybe after a couple of months to see if the job is worth it), though of course if you have a mortgage/partner/kids, it may not be practical.

If it's suitable for the role, doing compressed hours could also work, for example, doing 3x 12 hour days with 2 nights in a hotel, then going home for a long weekend or something like that

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Sweaty-Equipment3260@reddit

2 hours unpaid work everyday.

Take your hourly rate times it by 20, then take it off your salary.

Then ask yourself if it's worth it.

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Realistic_Ad9820@reddit

Been doing it for 3 years. I commute 2.5 hours each way for a hybrid role in London, where I go in 3 days a week.

The reasons I sustain it are: 1) large part of the commute is a guaranteed train seat in a quiet carriage, and I sleep that part away 2) I am diligent about using waking time on the trains or platforms to cover extra work and home admin so my time at home is free time 3) my partner works part time so the house is taken care of, plus we don't have kids 4) The job is enviable in its field in terms of benefits, and I make six figures with an upward career path. I have friends at work that make it enjoyable, not only bearable.

I don't recommend it for most people and I still struggle some days, but in my case it is working for our household.

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Mondays-fundays@reddit

I used to do about 90 minutes.

It's doable if it is a single train and you don't have to keep changing. You need to use the time so it feels like less of a waste. I read a tonne basically.

It is tiring though, especially in winter where you only see daylight at weekends more or less

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MashashiC@reddit

4/5 days a week my commute is 1.5 hours to work and anything from 1.5-3 hours home… it’s not that bad I leave my house at 0600 leave work at 1600 usually at work for 0730 and home by 1800

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Rasty_lv@reddit

2hrs each way is mental. Temporary and if it pays super good? i would do for some time. but its not a long term thing.

Years ago i had 40-60min commute. That was so painful. You lose so much of your free time, you are tired constantly. not worth it.

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TheRealPyroManiac@reddit

I do 90 mins door to door, it’s not too bad as it’s once or twice a week but 4 hours a day is pretty rough especially if it’s 5 days. I couldn’t do that.

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skiingpuma@reddit

Me (car, train, tube, train, walk; reverse). But I only go twice a month. I don’t make a lot. Those days are not nice.

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egismzkobv@reddit

Had a friend who used to do so, even up north in Yorkshire, but that just sounds silly, 4h lost a day. I could never, did that myself for a week when I was younger, thankfully agency moved me to a closer job.

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Fit-Bedroom-7645@reddit

Did it for around 6 months between moving house and getting a new job. And it was 12 hour shifts. Can only describe as horrific. Christmas day in particular stands out as a solid worst day of my life.

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LopsidedGear8017@reddit

I do an hour and a half (5 min walk to bus stop, 10 minute bus, hour on the tube and a 15 minute walk after that) at the moment but have previously done two hour commutes. Honestly, you get used to it. I’ve been doing long commutes since I was a school kid, used to take me an hour to get to school on public transport in Year 7 so feels like second nature now.

If I start work at 9, I leave at 7. To some people that’s absurd, I’m just so used to it doesn’t feel terrible at all. Commute home differs based on when I am leaving work.

I get to be with my family and friends as a result so wouldn’t change it. I can’t move jobs at the moment so isn’t an option.

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DeathByFluffy@reddit

Depends on the money. Wouldn’t do it for £25k but I probably would for a very highly paid role

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imtheorangeycenter@reddit

I've worked with one person who did that (b'ham to central London).

Lasted six months. Turns out a 5am to 8.30pm day isn't sustainable. Especially if you have family or friends. There is no time in the evening to decompress, and your weekends are just zombified.

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Total_Inflation_7898@reddit

I did that for 2 years while trying to sell my flat. It was exhausting but I was driving -it may be different on public transport. I lost touch with friends because I was too tired to socialise.

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VolcanicBear@reddit

Mate of mine did it for a year.

Made a lot of money, cost him his 5 year relationship, sold up and moved much closer.

Still makes a lot of money and is in a new relationship.

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Active_Doubt_2393@reddit

I can't imagine anything worse. I do about n hour each way two days a week. If they asked me to come in 5 days a week I'd look elsewhere. My commute if it makes any difference is a 20 minutes cycle to the railway station and a 40 minute train journey.

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Repulsive-Year896@reddit

I would say it’s pretty rare to be honest. Maybe just about doable if you can work on the train and have that included as part of your shift. Say 6 hours in the office and the rest “remote” from the train. If your driving then I’d look at seeing if the company will pay you for digs, otherwise I’d say it isn’t worth it

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BandicootObjective32@reddit

Ouch! My commute ends up around that. I used to do around an hour and a half everyday pre-covid. Everyone wondered how but you just kind of get into a rhythm. If it's every day I really wouldn't do two hours, but once or twice a week isn't the end of the world if it's your dream job and/or very well paid

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Lollypop1305@reddit

My commute is literally 10 mins door to door. If I’m wfh it’s two secs. (Which is rare as I’m a mortician and no one wants that in the living room 🤣) Not a chance would I commute 2 hours each way. 4 hours out of my day that I could be with my family is an absolute no.

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StatisticianOne8287@reddit

Funny enough, I’ve just got one. However, my plan is to move up there long term and it’s hybrid, so shouldn’t hurt too much until we’ve moved.

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