Relationship between commute time and productivity

[JR_StudyEd]

Hi, so I would like to hear the experiences of those students whose commute times to school/uni were insanely long and how they managed their time. I consider myself fortunate (or unfortunate, depends) that I live no longer than a 10 minute drive from my school. So I've never really experienced having to travel so long just to get to school.

My hypothesis/assumption is that the longer you spend getting to school/uni, the more productive you will be. Since a significant portion of your day consists of just getting to where you need to be, you will waste less time overall compared to those like me. What do you think?

[Ionic Doc]

Hi, so I would like to hear the experiences of those students whose commute times to school/uni were insanely long and how they managed their time. I consider myself fortunate (or unfortunate, depends) that I live no longer than a 10 minute drive from my school. So I've never really experienced having to travel so long just to get to school.

My hypothesis/assumption is that the longer you spend getting to school/uni, the more productive you will be. Since a significant portion of your day consists of just getting to where you need to be, you will waste less time overall compared to those like me. What do you think?

depends

some people may find themselves exhausted from commuting back and forth, which may lead to unproductive study . . .

[Bri MT]

In my first semester of uni I had a 3 hour commute each way (this was assuming all my connections lined up well - which wasn't always the case) and it was very difficult. I think I spent more of my available time being productive compared to when I later moved and had a 2 hour commute each way but I was constantly tired and found it difficult to take care of my health. I tried doing various things to be more productive on the train and there were positive aspects to it, however, it was pretty demoralising & I didn't get that much return out of my effort.

This semester I'm living very close to campus and I'm keen to experience that

[Aaron]

When I was at uni, I experienced both scenarios.

When I did my undergrad, I lived 10 mins away from my uni. By far I enjoyed that more - who wouldn't enjoy living close to uni? More time for everything.
When I did my masters, I had to travel using two trains and a bus with a one way commute of around 90 mins. That wasn't as fantastic. If you put that into perspective, that's a good 3 hours out of the day you've lost due to commuting.

At present for my work I travel 1 hour one-way approx and that alone squeezes and limits the time I have to do everything else. Productivity is by far less when you're travelling significant amounts. You could argue that being on PT allows you time to study/revise/etc. in preparation on the way there but this doesn't factor in peak hour PT services where you're forced to be sandwiched between people with no place to sit or even concentrate.

Depends on the person. I hated long commutes. Still do. If you have an opportunity to reduce the length of a commute, do it. You'll be better off for it long term.