Mind the Grind

Few routines are as painfully familiar as the daily trip to work and back. Is this time well spent, or do the hours en route wear you down? Upgrade your ride and limit its ill effects with these research-backed strategies.

Plug in

Listening to upbeat music makes you more forgiving of encroachments on your personal space. Ana Tajadura-Jimenez, the British psychologist who described this effect, applies it during rush hour on the London Underground: “When the tube is crowded, one easy solution to better tolerate people too close to me is to plug in my headphones.”

Leave Work On Time

Be wary of letting your work life swallow up more time than it has to—especially if you spend a sizable chunk of your day getting to the office. Surprisingly, studies find that the more time people spend commuting, the longer they tend to be at work. This effect may be reversed, however, for those who commute for more than three hours a day.

Open Up

They expected to be happier in solitude, but people who chatted with strangers on buses and trains during experiments in Chicago had more positive trips than those who stayed quiet—showing how social engagement can give us a lift.

Shorten Your Route

People with long commutes suffer worse health, research shows. Free up some time for less-sedentary activities by traveling during non-rush-hour periods or using an app that tracks traffic tie-ups to find the quickest route before you head out the door.

Work For It

A recent 17-year study of 18,000 British commuters showed that switching from driving to walking or biking improved commuters’ scores on a well-being scale. “It’s not necessary to do it every day, but why not try walking to work just once a week?” suggests Adam Martin, a British economist who led the research.

► The Average U.S. Commute

How Long It Takes...

11.8 miles / 25.5 minutes

How We Get There...

• Auto: 86.2%
• Public Transit: 5%
• Bike: 0.6%
• Foot: 2.8%

_{Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2011; U.S. Dept. of Transportation, National Household Travel Survey, 2009; U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2008–2012}