Why Commuting Could be Bad for Your Health

If you live in one town and work in another, commuting becomes an unavoidable part of the day. Depending on how far away you live from work and the amount of traffic you generally encounter, you can spend quite a significant amount of time commuting. The daily commute can be extremely stressful, as you may have to get up extra early to try to beat the traffic, even though you fail miserably to do so, and miss out on breakfast. You may use public transport, only for the train or bus to be delayed, leaving you stressed and anxious.

It is therefore clear that if your commute to work leaves you worked up and stressed out, your health is hardly going to benefit. If you have to get up early to make sure you arrive at work on time, you may miss out on vital sleep, which leaves you feeling tired and drowsy. You may struggle to concentrate whilst driving to work, thus increasing the likelihood of an accident. At work, you may have difficulty focusing on what needs to be done, so that you end up working longer or taking work home with you just to catch up, leaving you with very little time to relax.

If you regularly skip breakfast, it becomes harder to control your weight. If you don't eat anything in the morning, you may be inclined to snack on calorific junk food later on during the day. You may decide to get something to eat on your way to work, something that may not be particularly nutritious and that you just shovel into your mouth. Eating and driving at the same time could prove to be dangerous if you pay more attention to what is in your mouth than what is on the road.

When you spend a significant proportion of your time commuting to work, you may not have as much time left over to do things which are beneficial for your health. Exercise is extremely important for a healthy mind and body, but when you know you have to get up early to get to work and then drive home later on in the day, you may not have the time or inclination to get active. Even if you could squeeze exercise into your day, it would mean getting up even earlier to go for a jog or going to the gym after work when you could be spending time with your children.

You might not be able to avoid the daily commute, but you should be able to minimise the health risks by learning to manage your stress levels and by organising your time more effectively, so that you don't miss out on meals and fail to get enough exercise. At the end of the day, it is your health which could suffer if you don't take appropriate action to look after yourself, which is why you should make your health a priority.