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Comment by tempest_ | Hacker News Reader

"All other things being equal" is a massive qualification though.

The reason people like WFH often begins and ends at "No commute". If your commute is roughly an hour you get 2 hours of your day back instantly. Tough sell for come into the office when the options are "feeling part of something" vs getting 2 hours of the day back.

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This is where I think many people talk past each other in the great wfh debate. If your commute is an easy 20 minutes where you listen to a podcast or an audiobook, and you find collaboration easier in-person rather than via Teams, it's a completely different equation to an introvert with a 1 hour commute through gridlock. Personally my commute isn't too bad & I'm far more productive at the office, though I do appreciate the opportunity to work from home 1-2 days per week.

I listen to audiobooks in the car. So it doesn't feel like time wasted to me.

You can still listen to audiobooks and walk your dog, do gardening or laundry or whatever else you want. All of which are more relaxing to me than driving in traffic - and that’s after the fact that I have a car I actually like driving.

I do that too. I have a lot of free time.

some people can, not everyone lives in a situation where that is possible. it rather comes down to preference.

Now imagine if you could get the same 2 hours of daily audiobooking and it’s a workout or getting chores done. You can do that when you aren’t stuck in a car, activities.

Technically a safety hazard.

Or you know, we live on the other side of the country and we don't want to have to pay 5x for a comparable home in commuting distance...

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