What’s feels worse than heading to work? The journey there of course. Being squished like sardines in a sweaty train and having one’s personal space violated can turn even the most good-natured folk into Incredible Hulks. The morning commute sets the tone for the rest of the day and nothing is more important than a pleasant, stress-free ride.
According to TODAY, a study conducted by researchers from the Department of Management and Organisation at National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Business School has found that online connecting – surfing the web, checking social media updates, personal emails and texting – alleviates the commuting stress and contributes to greater relaxation during the morning commute.
On the other hand, evening journeys benefit more from mindless activities that allow people to better recuperate from a hard day’s work, such as zoning out or people watching. Internal sniggering at a fashion faux pas or watching someone drooling while asleep never fails to take the mind to a better place.
Perhaps grumpy commuters will be less hostile when they catch Grumpy Cat on TV. As the study’s lead author Professor Vivien Lim suggested, screening fun shows on televisions at MRT stations or in trains could also reduce irritability levels.
Frankly, sometimes such leisure activities are useless in dealing with stress caused by ignorant travellers who have no respect for the tacit commuting etiquette that most of us have been socialised into. Just relax, stare out of the window and imagine round-housing each one of your annoying fellow commuters in their heads.
Photo: daarwasik via Flickr
What’s feels worse than heading to work? The journey there of course. Being squished like sardines in a sweaty train and having one’s personal space violated can turn even the most good-natured folk into Incredible Hulks. The morning commute sets the tone for the rest of the day and nothing is more important than a pleasant, stress-free ride.
According to TODAY, a study conducted by researchers from the Department of Management and Organisation at National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Business School has found that online connecting – surfing the web, checking social media updates, personal emails and texting – alleviates the commuting stress and contributes to greater relaxation during the morning commute.
On the other hand, evening journeys benefit more from mindless activities that allow people to better recuperate from a hard day’s work, such as zoning out or people watching. Internal sniggering at a fashion faux pas or watching someone drooling while asleep never fails to take the mind to a better place.
Perhaps grumpy commuters will be less hostile when they catch Grumpy Cat on TV. As the study’s lead author Professor Vivien Lim suggested, screening fun shows on televisions at MRT stations or in trains could also reduce irritability levels.
Frankly, sometimes such leisure activities are useless in dealing with stress caused by ignorant travellers who have no respect for the tacit commuting etiquette that most of us have been socialised into. Just relax, stare out of the window and imagine round-housing each one of your annoying fellow commuters in their heads.
Photo: daarwasik via Flickr