Commuting woes a road to nowhere

Work – it’s a necessary evil but sometimes the pain starts before you even get to the office.

Yes, the commute is probably the worst part of every employee’s day, depending on how far they have to travel and what mode of transport they use to do it.

To find out just how much we’re affected by our commute, motorcycle insurance company Devitt carried out a survey of 2,000 commuters, and made some interesting, if somewhat depressing, discoveries.

The first thing they found out was that, on average, employees lose 29.6 minutes of work per week due to bad traffic on their commute.

That obviously affects productivity and efficiency, and has a knock-on effect to the economy as a whole.

Devitt calculated that bad traffic costs the UK economy a shocking £203,846,153 per week.

Being late for work can make us feel flustered and immediately puts most of us on the back foot. On average it takes us a good 34.2 minutes before we feel calm and in control again after getting in to the office significantly after our usual start time.

However, Devitt also found that 32.3% of us try to sneak into work without being noticed if we’re late – it saves having to tell the boss the ins and outs of how the train couldn’t run because the wrong type of leaves were on the track – while a snooty 43.2% of people would actually report a colleague who continually arrived late for work.

Fair enough if it’s actually their own fault, perhaps, but the Great British transport system is notoriously unpredictable.

However, more seriously, almost 13% of people have missed a job interview because of bad traffic, which obviously doesn’t make the best first impression.

And more than a quarter of us (27.8%) experience “biker envy” when motorcyclists cruise past us in traffic jams.

“There’s no better way to get around London than on a motorcycle, especially when the weather’s nice,” says Bob from Kent, who has insured his motorbike through Devitt for more than 40 years.

“Not only is it enjoyable and quick, but you avoid the congestion charge, parking availability has improved dramatically in recent years and the views are better than those on the underground.”

But if you don’t fancy riding a motorbike to work – they can be scary things for many of us – and it’s too far to cycle, what can you do to avoid the hell of commuting?

Living in the countryside can mean limited or no public transport links, or they could be expensive, especially if you already own a car.

The best option for many people can be working from home.

It can save time, stress and ultimately, the environment.

So think about discussing the options with your boss to come up with a solution that works for everyone.

In this technology-heavy day and age, when pretty much everyone has access to phones and computers, working remotely could definitely be something worth considering.

Picture: Getty. Traffic: It can get to the best of us... and usually does.