I Spend 54 Days a Year Commuting — Working From Home Opened My Eyes
In the beginning of February of 2020, I started to become obsessed with news about the Coronavirus. I would read articles when I woke up and before I went to bed, listen to one hour COVID podcasts on my way home from work, and spread my gleaned “knowledge” to my friends, boyfriend, and co-workers.
It became apparent to me by the end of February that this was not going to be a minor issue. The moment that my company decided to send us to work from home, my entire world changed.
Although the NYC shutdown seems to be coming to an end soon, there has been one major lesson I have learned throughout this quarantine.
Time is the Most Valuable Asset
Being sent to work from home “indefinitely” truly changed my mindset about time. I realized that there was one huge factor in my life that had been eating up the time I have on this Earth. This factor was my commute.
My Commute
As many New Yorkers would know, commuting can take a huge toll on your day to day life. I used to wake up at 6AM to get to work by 9AM.
My schedule went a little something like this:
6AM — 7AM: Wake up, shower, eat breakfast, and get ready for work.
7AM — 9AM: Commute from Staten Island to Manhattan. My commute would comprise of three different modes of transportation (bus, ferry, and train).
6PM — 8PM: Commute back to Staten Island.
Essentially, I have been saving five hours a day from commuting (to and from work) and getting ready in the mornings. This is equivalent to 25 hours a week and 1,300 hours a year.
After doing these calculations, I am just now realizing that I spend 54 DAYS in one YEAR commuting! This is approximately 15% of my year spent waiting around, getting frustrated with NYC transportation, and basically paying the MTA to take this time away from me.
If you haven’t done the calculations yet, I would truly encourage you to do them. It is very eye opening and may inspire you to pursue a work from home lifestyle. You may be wondering what I have done with all of the extra time throughout this 3 month period.
Pursuing my Interests
As a 22 year old who is living in NYC, I have many interests besides my 9–5 job. The time that I have saved from commuting has allowed me to pursue these. We can start with the most obvious one — writing.
Writing
Although this is my first article on Medium, I love writing. I write in a journal daily (nowadays), and I write my own songs. Since working from home has started, I have probably written more entries and song ideas than I have in the past year.
I’ve realized just how important it is for our mental health to use our creativity as an outlet, especially during times like these.
Investing
I have always dreamed of learning about finance. Although I graduated a business school, I never truly understood everything finance related. I would get confused when people would speak about it, and I hated the feeling of not knowing. One of my goals was to finally learn about finance and invest in the market.
When the work from home period began, I saw it as the perfect opportunity to educate myself on finance and investing.
Fast forward to three months later, I have read four books about investing and have invested $4,400 in the stock market myself. I have purchased more books to read, and my goal is to eventually reach $10,000 in stock investments by the end of August 2020.
I know this is something that never would have happened if I did not have the extra time. I now consider investing to be one of my passions.
Singing
I’ve always wanted to be a performer. I know that my bachelor’s degree in Operations Management doesn’t exactly scream that message, but the time I have spent in quarantine has helped me realize what I actually want.
I started my own Youtube channel where I cover songs of famous artists, and it has taught me so much about myself in an incredibly short period of time.
Youtube requires many skills that I had to learn by myself. From getting the right video angle to trying to align my sound with my video in iMovie, I have definitely been challenged. It has certainly not been as easy as I thought, but I have pushed forward with consistency.
Once again, this channel is something that I never would have started if it were not for the extra time.
Entrepreneurship
I have always known that I don’t want to work for someone else forever. I believe working for someone else is a nice way to start your career, but should never be something that we strive for as an end goal.
We live in a world with endless opportunities. We live in a time period where you can be your own boss and do what you love. If you prefer the 9–5 lifestyle, that is your business and I am no one to tell you otherwise. It would be quite ignorant though, to avoid the fact that even a 9–5 is not stable, especially during times like these.
The people that want to succeed in entrepreneurship will succeed. I am extremely grateful that this extra time has given me so many opportunities. I have been brainstorming two business ideas for the past month. I am writing plans for these businesses, calculating the capital required to start them, educating myself, and researching.
Time truly is what you do with it, and it is the most valuable asset we have.
I Challenge You
Yes, you. If you have been working from home these past few months, you know it is easy to wake up at 9am instead of the time you would normally wake up for work.
It is also simple to shut down your computer and end off the day by watching Netflix all night after work. What are you doing with that extra time?
I challenge you to calculate the time you spend commuting and do something more valuable with that time. Even if that time is nowhere near 25 hours a week, you would be surprised what 5 extra hours a week spent on your goals can do.
Don’t get me wrong, you can and should indulge in a Netflix drama every once in a while. No matter your age or profession, I know that you have something on the back of your mind you are already thinking of doing!
I challenge you!