Commuting and the 'Dead Zone'
By Rebeldad Brian Reid
I miss my commute. At least, I think I do. I have the hazy memory of someone who hasn't had to do the cross-D.C. trek in a few months, and the limitations of the Washington-area highway system aren't as sharp in my mind. Still -- I miss my alone time in the car/Metro/bike. (I've commuted in every possible way -- save rowboat and cross-country ski -- in my 10-odd years of Washington work.)
The commute is on my mind after I read a piece by the always-wonderful Sue Shellenbarger, who writes the work and family column for the Wall Street Journal. Shellenbarger shone a light last week on the "Dead Zone," that terrible time in the evening after work when you simply lack the ability to communicate with your family.
I know I suffer it, stumbling out of my home office into the height of arsenic hour, when the kids are hungry and tired and the puppy is all revved up. I am physically present -- capable of cutting up an apple and robotically asking how school went -- but the eyes are glazed and the mind is elsewhere (did I need to send one more e-mail?).
I stumbled across a a nice blog post about how to leave work, which came with the counter-intuitive suggestion to take the long way home after a bad day at work to fully separate work and home. I realized I could use that separation.
When I was bike and Metro-bound, the trip home was a great chance to shift gears -- pun not intended -- and transition from the office to home. Though I hated the 45-minute time suck at the end of the day, I did feel better. Same goes for the car trip, when I could catch up on my favorite podcasts and otherwise tune everything out.
As usual, I'll kick it to you: Is my pining for red lights due to traffic-jam-related amnesia? Have any of you used the commute to break through the Dead Zone? And if not, how do you avoid the Dead Zone?
Brian Reid writes about parenting and work-family balance. You can read his blog at rebeldad.com.
By Brian Reid |
March 1, 2007; 7:00 AM ET
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