Study: Commuting has an upside and remote workers may be missing out

Study: Commuting has an upside and remote workers may be missing out Enlarge this image toggle caption massimo colombo/Getty Images massimo colombo/Getty Images For most American workers who commute, the trip to and from the office takes nearly one full hour a day — 26 minutes each way on average, with 7.7% of workers spending two hours or more on the road. Enlarge this image toggle caption Scott Olson/Getty Images Scott Olson/Getty Images How you commute makes a difference However, we also found that day-to-day variations may affect whether this liminal space is accessible for detachment and recovery. Most of the workers in this study reported using the commute's liminal space to both mentally transition from work to home roles and to start psychologically recovering from the demands of the workday. How remote workers can create a commute experience Our findings suggest that remote workers may benefit from creating their own form of commute to provide liminal space for recovery and transition — such as a 15-minute walk to mark the beginning and end of the workday.