Earlier this year, I moved from one of the (work-wise) more remote corners of Belgium to a far better located area; the heart of Antwerp. To top that, I'm now living and working within walking distance of the train station, so I'm taking the train on a daily basis. In total I'm still on the go more than two hours, but I can now spend 75% of that time usefully. That's 43 working days extra to spend each year! I've made a habit out of using that commute time for self-study; reading, working on side projects and writing. This seems to have considerably affected my state of mind for the better. I get home at night, and I've already spent a considerable amount of time challenging myself intellectually. I now no longer stress about practicing less 'productive', but very enjoyable activities; such as playing the guitar, working out or doing stuff around the house. I get to have both now.
There are only so few hours in a day, having to spend a considerable amount of that time just to get somewhere seems such a waste. Every day we try tools and techniques which save us a few minutes, and should help us improve the quality of our day-to-day lives, yet we often disregard optimization of the biggest time hog of them all. It goes without saying that those numbing long commutes by car aren't something that I'll ever decide to go back to lightly.
