According to science, this is how long your commute to work should take to avoid depression

Three years after the Covid-19 pandemic and the spread of remote work, some challenges associated with the concept of well-being and balance between professional and private life have been revealed. This is the case with the problem travel time Between home and work. Scientists have researched the effects of these trips, and it is worrying that they may have an impact on depression.

How long does it take to get to work?

The duration of the daily commute to work, declared by the majority of workers and students, is 30 minutesAccording to a poll conducted by BVA. Just 16% are allocated more’hour Traveling, regardless of the means of transportation used. When it comes to daily commute time to work, the French are clearly not the unhappiest.

our middle For the journey back to work from home, all modes of transportation combined are 1h04. However, this remains slightly below the average in the large countries surveyed, which was set at 1:09. In comparison, the Japanese spend only 39 minutes on this, The Germans endure 60 minutesAnd the Americans 79 minutes and Israelis… 97 minutes For their daily round trip.

The ideal period to avoid depression

According to the investigation he conducted Journal of Transport and HealthExcessively long commutes can increase the risk of weight gain, alcoholism, poor sleep quality, as well as depression. Public health researcher Dong-wook Lee conducted the study on 23,000 South Korean workers, revealing an average commute time of 47 minutes.

According to the conclusions of the study including metrotime Looking at published results, workers who spent more than an hour on their commute were 16% more likely to have depressive symptoms than those whose commute was less than 30 minutes. “With less free time, people lack time to rest the pressure And fight them Physical fatigue With sleep, entertainment and other activities »The researchers explained in the study.

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Travel times are very long

What are the consequences of very long travel for employees? Hence, stress, fatigue, and the risk of depression. “From the moment your flight takes more than an hour, every extra minute of travel It reduces your feeling of happiness », writes Hannah Hudson, editor-in-chief of Regus, who has compiled a series of studies on the subject, including Parisian Key elements report.

Long trips affect productivity and work efficiency. According to the Paris Workplace SFL-Ifop 5th scale, “The longer the trip, The less efficient the employees areSociable, loyal to their company ». Possible universal option is Distance working. The conditions for its application were also simplified by a government order last September. Unfortunately, a Citrix survey reveals that 76% of employees say they cannot benefit from this system.