If you drove 1 less hour for work each day, what is that worth to you?

Disclaimer: I don't want to know how much money you're making. I just want opinions on what it means for people to have that 1 hour/day back, which translates to 250 hours a year.

I'm trying to figure out if I should move to a new job that's 30 minutes closer to my house than my current job. But this new job would also pay a bit less.

The current formula that I devised for myself is that my extra time is equal to my BASE_HOURLY_RATE * 25%. So if I made $10/hr, I would consider my extra hour being worth $2.50.

Sorry for the weird post...

 

When I factor in stress, then it seems that extra hour should be worth more than 25% of my BASE_HOURLY_RATE. Hmm...

 

Yes, I am. I work in architecture and development, as well as devops.

What gave it away?...I guess BASE_HOURLY_RATE does look like a program constant name.

 

If the jobs were identical, and I only lost a dollar or so an hour, and I got an extra hour out of my day, hell yeah I'd move. I hate commuting.

 

Take the cut in pay. Quality of life is worth more than the additional stress.

 

i moved and my commute dropped from an hour to about 35 minutes. its honestly made a huge difference in my energy level and attitude

 

You can't buy time.

 

It's been 47 years since I've driven to work so I can't really help on this one. I just walk downstairs to my computer and drafting board, and that has saved a lot of time, fuel cost, and frustration. At 84, I still do it! - Cheers, Ted

 

I think this is the best way!!!!

From home if you can!

 

My wife works from home full-time, and I work from home on Fridays. If we're both home all week, it will be more challenging to get work done. Haha.

 

Until we moved, I used to walk to work.

I kind of liked the 15 minute walk in and back, it gave me time to myself to mentally get ready for work or decompress after work.

Not sure I'd like working from home, I need to leave the house to feel like I'm getting shit done. I think some sort of commute / distinction between home and work is necessary and healthy, keeps the two separate and gives you a bit of time to sort through things on the way in and back. There's obviously a limit to that, 20 minutes (which is what I have now) is pretty okay by me. An hour or more would suck balls, especially in stop and go traffic. I'm rural so there's no wait, just the tires rolling over the miles. I ride my motorcycle in most of the time so that's an added decompression tool.

 

I did the opposite, lived around 3 miles from work and took a job for slightly more pay but a 35 minute commute just to be back in the space industry I also turned down some jobs in Orlando as they were way more money but you can't get more time. My limit for a commute is around 40 minutes. If I was in your shoes I would do it, and the other thing you didn't mention is your mileage and cost in gas is going to basically be cut in half so figure that into the pay cut, you may be surprised how closely it figures in, then also notify your insurance company of the decrease in mileage and you will likely save some on insurance monthly.

 

I used to walk to work, that was awesome!

 

Also figure in gas and insurance based on less mileage/wear and tear, I moved closer to my work and love it! my commute was only 30 mins, but now I am down to 12 mins.

 

Thanks for all the replies. I really appreciate all of your input.

After itemizing everything money-wise, factoring in stress and the importance of time spent with family, comparing the differences in career growth, and financial track record of each company, I decided to stay where I am.

Unfortunately, the new job is a step down both financially and in position title. So even though the actual work is very interesting and it's an industry that I've worked in before, I had to walk away.

Hopefully, when another opportunity comes along that is at the same level as my current job, they'll consider me for that.

 

How many miles is it, it can be a short distance and take a long commute. My job is 11 miles away but takes 30 min. Because in my area no one knows what a stop sign is and what at least doing the speed limit is.

 

Wine em, dine em , sixty nine em

 

I currently drive 30 miles to work. The new job will be around 14 miles. Average speed is a wash between highway driving with heavy traffic vs. suburban roads with lots of stop lights.

I'm trying to negotiate a better deal...just trying to minimize the loss money-wise. Hopefully, they can make it work.

 

Just bringing closure to this thread...the adjusted offer was not enough for me to take the job.

Through the negotiation process, I learned to appreciate more things about the job I currently have.

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts.

 

You sound like a young man. Plenty of life and experiences ahead for you. You probably made the right call.