7 signs your commute to work is wearing you down

7 signs your commute to work is wearing you down7 signs your commute to work is wearing you downYou try to balance time between your job and your life outside of the office. Youre busy. Youre often stressed. You really cant afford to lose hours from your day.But if you commute to work, thats exactly whats happening. You may spend an hour, two hours, or even mora every day sitting in your car, stuck in traffic, wishing you were somewhere else.Those lost hours are mora than just a waste of time, though. They may have a detrimental impact on yourphysical and emotional health, not to mention yourproductivityand your relationships.Here are seven signs that your commute to work may be wearing you down1. You start and end your day in a state of stressNavigating rush hour has proven effects on you physically. Your body reacts to bumper-to-bumper traffic with a fight-or-flight response, but since you can neither battle nor flee,your stress levels skyrocket. As a result, when you get to the of fice at the beginning of the day, or walk through the doors of your home at the end, youre already frazzled.2. Your relationships are sufferingThat commuting stress, and the behavior you exhibit because of it, can make you a less pleasant coworker, spouse, parent, or friend. People struggle to work with or talk to someone who is always on edge.3. You are more likely to grab fast food than prepare a healthy mealWhen youre losing time every day, something has to give. Along commuteforces many people to buy something quick instead of spending time cooking dinner with fresh food.4. Youre gaining weightNote point number three. Also, when youre spending longer on the road each day, youre less likely to make time to exercise. One study found that people who have long commutes are21% more likely to be obesethan those who have shorter travel times.5. Youre losing sleepThe longer it takes you to get to and from work, the less time you have to finish all of the other tasks on your daily to-do list. To get everything done, many peoplesacrifice sleep. The study mentioned above found that those with longer commutes were 46% more likely to get less than the recommended seven hours of sleep each night.6. Your productivity is droppingThink about it if youre stressed, tired, and unhealthy, how likely are you to be able to focus on your work? If youre finding that you get considerably less done in the office as your commute time lengthens, clearly its having an effect.7. Youre unhappy.All of the negative physical and emotional impacts of commuting are bound to take a bite out of the joy you feel about life in general. An article fromFastCompanycites a Swedish study that found that much of the making of day-to-day happiness depends on making the mundane parts of life more positive. Theres nothing more mundane than a commute, and its rarely a positive experience. If you can cut an hour out of your commute, that makes a relative difference of $40,000 to your happiness levels, the a rticle says.How to break free of a long commuteDo you recognize any of these traits in yourself? If so, perhaps its time to look for alternatives to that long commute.One option is to seek employment in an office that is closer to your home. But perhaps an even better idea is toavoid the commute entirely.Are you a self-starter who communicates and collaborates well with colleagues? Do you have a functional and comfortable home office? Are you more focused and productive when youre working on your own? If you can honestly answer yes, its time to think about amove to remote work.Ask your boss if you can do a telecommuting test. If she agrees, try working from home and seeing how it affects your productivity, your stress levels, and your physical health.Getting out of rush hour and into your home office may do more than help you be a better worker. It could add years- and happier years, at that- to your life.This post was originally published on FlexJobs.com.