Austin Frakt recently wrote about the physical and psychological affects of commuting to work in his article: “Stuck and Stressed: The Health Costs of Traffic”. Frakt explains that not only is our health being affected by breathing in a copious amounts of exhaust each day but we’re taking on unnecessary stress which often leads to angry and often violent reactions. To read the full article, Click Here.
In response to Frakt’s article, EBC employees want to give their perspective on how commutes affected their work and the changes they have made to practically eliminate the health cost of commuting.
The following is written by Lachelle Rodrigues, consultant at EBC:
For 2019, EBC’s mantra is “Work Life Balance”. As business professionals, wives, friends, and moms, our personal mission this year is to find that important equilibrium to create a healthy and happy work-life balance.
One factor that can contribute to a stressful work week is the commute. With Hawaii having some of the worst traffic in the nation, one fender bender and your 3 mile commute can turn in to a 90 minute nightmare. We are able to alleviate ourselves from this bumper to bumper hair pulling energy drain by allowing for a more flexible work schedule and working from home when needed thanks to our cloud-based filing and database system. I personally find myself working at 6am before my daughter is awake, or after 8pm once she is asleep for the night. At first it was hard to adjust to working odd hours especially because before a baby I tried not to bring my work home with me. Now, I view my flexible schedule as a blessing and I do not mind working the odd hours if it means more time with my daughter.
Flexible hours or working at home is becoming more and more of the norm. The use of the technology has greatly enabled this type of telecommuting, and also the mindset of having a life outside of work is becoming increasingly important. I do believe this is an important consideration for all companies if it aligns with their business model. I feel less stressed about time, traffic and fulfilling my daily demands in this chaotic world. I can be more present for my child and my family as well as spend a few extra minutes of me time – even if it’s tending to my orchid plants.