Full Time, All the Time
with Britt Reints
Forget the 9 to 5; Full Time, All the Time is a blog about the mobile working life - when you have the freedom to work from anywhere and the responsibility of always having your smartphone turned on. Britt Reints works as a freelance writer while traveling fulltime in an RV with her husband and two kids. She explores balancing real-life bills with an unconventional work life, and finding time to maintain relationships with family and friends.
You can also find Britt at InPursuitOfHappiness.net.
When I was a little girl I dreamed about growing up and having a job. I would get up in the morning and put on my power suit, hop on a train and head to the office. At the end of the day I would pack up my briefcase, put on my very professional coat and head out for an evening of adult activities.
Now that I’m all grown up, I have a relatively important (in the sense that it pays the bills) job. I carry a laptop bag instead of a briefcase, and I own a very flattering black trench coat.
What I also have, which I never in a million years imagined, is a soul sucking commute.
What I didn’t know then was that city living was better suited for people who don’t have to consider things like child safe neighborhoods, public school systems and affordable mortgages. As a real life grown up with both a career and a family, I find myself firmly entrenched in the suburbs of Orlando.
And the suburbs are about 45 minutes from the office in rush hour traffic.
Unless, of course, there’s an accident. Or rain. Or a really slow tourist clogging up the works. Then it might take me 90 minutes to make the 20 mile trek.
Of all the things I love about working full time, the one thing that makes me question my decision on a regular basis is my daily commute.
I hate that I get off work at 5:00 and don’t walk in my front door until as late as 6:30 some nights. I hate that I spend three hours of my day, five days a week, sitting in my car. I dream about all the living I could do with those extra 15 hours a week. I resent that I give up those hours not for work, or myself, or time with my family - but for traffic.
My mother once told me that she valued her commute because it gave her a chance to “switch gears”, transforming from working woman to wife and mother over the course of her drive home. I have never found that to be the case for me. I spend the entire drive on edge as the minutes tick by, worried that I’ll be late to pick up the kids or be the last parent to arrive. I get tired and tense just thinking about the marathon that awaits once I hit the daycare starting line: pick up, get home, unpack, make dinner, eat dinner, do dishes, check homework, baths, story, bedtime, collapse.
I wonder if this is simply a necessary evil as long as I continue to work outside the home. Am I destined to surrender more than 10% of my day to something I hate? Is there something I’m missing that makes commuting tolerable?
How do you cope with the time suck that is the daily commute?
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I enjoy listening to books on CD during my drive. It makes it go faster and if it’s a good story… I actually look forward to getting in the car to listen. It’s how I first “read” the Harry Potter books… I listened to them!
Liz Langford - TalkingShopping | November 19th, 2008 at 9:21 am
I listen to audio books, that’s the only thing that gets me through it.
Robin | November 19th, 2008 at 9:34 am
Traffic is part of the reason I have shifted my work schedule to be as early as it is. My drive takes me about 20 minutes at 6.15am. If I left at a “normal” time, like say 7.30am or later, it would take upwards of 45 minutes.
Other than shifting your commute time to avoid the traffic, your only real alternatives are to change one of the two locations in your commute: move, or find a new job.
(I’m not trying to be harsh, just realistic. The commute is made up of three things: where you start, where you end up, and when you drive. Changing any one of the three should help that.)
SciFi Dad | November 19th, 2008 at 9:42 am
I feel your pain. It sounds like we have similar commutes. I live in a suburb of Atlanta and have a 45 minute drive (on good days) to and from work. I am constantly thinking about what I could do with the lost time that I spend sitting in traffic. In the morning it’s not so bad because it does give me time to fully wake up and prepare for my work day but the ride home is stressful knowing that I have so much to do once I pick up my son at daycare…fix dinner, eat dinner, bath, quality time with son and husband, bed time routine, etc. It’s stressful (as you well know) but I have hope that one day I will find a job closer to home.
Leslie | November 19th, 2008 at 10:30 am
I feel your pain. I’m in the same boat. I live in a suburb of Atlanta and have a 45 minute commute each way (on good days). It is stressful and to me does seem like a huge waste of my time. I always wonder what I could be doing with that time if I didn’t spend it in traffic.
Leslie | November 19th, 2008 at 10:33 am
So, I’m not a mom, but I totally relate to what you’re saying here. I have a 25 min. commute in the morning and a 45-60 min commute in the evening. It blows. I listen to NPR to pass the time. I figure I might as well try and learn something while I’m inching along on the highway.
Raychelle | November 19th, 2008 at 10:51 am
I wish there was some sort of magic wand to make getting from Point A to Point B a bit easier.
My commute is not nearly so bad.
Personally I’m all about the podcasts, and all about the music, and the political banter.I don’t have time to read but did enjoy the audiobooks during my long runs.
The drive from work to school (and vice versa) is really the only time I have to myself. It’s short overall and I don’t mind.
I know you’re not looking to change jobs but could you rework your schedule so you aren’t driving during rush hour? (One of the ladies in my office works 7 to 3, it works for her.) You can move or you can make the time work for you.
Nat | November 19th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
I hated commuting too. After I had my first child I worked only for a couple of months and then found a job closer to home. I use to drive an hour to get to work. Now I leave 20 minutes before and drop my daughter at daycare and still make in time for work.
I’m not doing the same thing in this new place but it’s still the same industry.
Zelma | November 19th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
I’m so glad that I don’t have a long commute. My job is about 20 minutes from my house and 15 from my daughter’s school. I spend my 20 minutes of alone time (possibly the only alone time I get until after 9:00pm) to listen to the music I want to listen to or talk on the phone to my mom. I try not to make a list in my head of what I need to do once I get home because if I do that I just end up stressed out before I’m even home!
If I had a longer commute, I’d probably attempt to do something I enjoy during the commute - listen to music, listen to a book on tape, etc. Something that is just for me so that by the time I get home I can feel like I’ve had “me time” and would be ready to give the rest of my time to my husband/children/whatever.
Jenni | November 19th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
It takes me over an hour to get home each night.
I feel your pain.
Jenny, Bloggess | November 19th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
I hear you. I once quit a job because I could not handle the insanely long commute.
And I know you probably don’t want to hear this — but I work from home now and I do miss the commute. Not the long one, like you have, but some separation between work and home.
But 90 mins each way? I totally know the stress.
Nataly | November 19th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
I know EXACTLY what you’re talking about. I lived in the Longwood-Lake Mary area for 10 years and my husband and I commuted to downtown Orlando. I know exactly the” I’ll be the last parent” thing. I am someone who never used to be late for anything before I moved to the Orlando area. However, once there, I was on time, maybe, half the time. I would try to budget the time for commute, but there would be an accident and before you could say “boo”, I4 would be a parking lot. Now, I’m in the West Palm Beach area. The traffic (north of the city) is better here. Also, there are plenty of alternate routes.
Mary | November 19th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
I live five minutes from my train station. Then, if I am on the RIGHT train, it’s a forty-five minute ride. If I’m running late or, god forbid, have to leave work in the middle of the day, I’m looking at at least an hour. If I drove to work, it’d take about an hour and a half each way but would be a lot easier if I had to leave early for an emergency. BUT it’s $20 a day to park downtown.
Being at the mercy of the train schedule really is hard, especially when you get the dreaded “sick baby” calls.
Sheila (Charm School Reject) | November 19th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
This post totally hits home for me. I have a 75-90 minute commute each way, which includes getting the baby to/from daycare.
Before baby, I used to enjoy the drive back and forth for that transition time, radio listening, talking to family/friends on the (hands-free) phone. Now it just sickens me that most of the time I spend with my baby awake during the week is in the car.
I don’t know how to make cummuting time better, other than to make it shorter or work from home. I’m pushing to work from home. It will probably mean taking a grade-level demotion and possibly a pay cut, but it will be worth it. While I’ve figured out that I can in fact have it all, I’ve also discovered the price is too high–for me, anyway.
Keegan | November 19th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
My commute has been particularly awful this week, so I feel your pain too. My commute is roughly 40 miles each way, and has taken over an hour and a half both morning and night this week. I’m in Los Angeles, famous for hellish commuting - for a VERY good reason.
Mostly I listen to the radio - NPR in the morning, NPR and music in the evening - and try to stay calm. I also check the traffic reports often so I can find out if there’s a reason for the delays.
Florinda | November 20th, 2008 at 12:11 am
In the first month I went back to work after my girls were born, I got 2 speeding tickets and 1 panic attack *on the way home*! Didn’t want to be late, had a nanny who gave me the evil eye if I was even 2 minutes late… Anyway, I get it too!
I spend anywhere between 45 minutes and 1hr 20 on the road each day.
It sucks, but it is the time I listen to audiobooks, call my extended family, have a chance to catch my breath.
Guess I’ve just learned to deal with it after 9 years…. but only 2 with kids, so we’ll see what happens!
spacegeek | November 20th, 2008 at 12:47 am
“And the suburbs are about 45 minutes from the office in rush hour traffic.”
and “I hate that I spend three hours of my day, five days a week, sitting in my car.”
don’t make sense together. Either it’s 45 minutes and you spend an hour and a half five days a week in your car with an extra 45 minutes on one end once or twice a week, or it’s not 45 minutes each way regularly.
Jennifer | November 20th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Such awesome tips!
Since writing this post I have…
-talked to my boss about adjusting my schedule
-bought an audiobook to listen to on the drive
Thanks everyone!
Miss Britt | November 23rd, 2008 at 11:42 am
I could have written this post. I agree with everything you said!
3GirlsMom | November 25th, 2008 at 3:25 pm