According to a study on workers’ well-being by the Office for National Statistics based on around 60,000 people, the worst effects of traveling to the workplace were associated with journey times of between 30 and 90 minutes.

But travel times reaching three hours have a different effect. People may be able to use their time more productively on a longer journey, Guardian said.

Daniel Newman, from Cardiff University‘s Sustainable Places Research Institute, said commuting affects physical health as long commutes shorten the time available for exercise or eating home-cooked meals. This can cause insomnia and joint pain.

“Commuting can be a chore,” he added.

By Lee Shin-young, Intern reporter (sylee@heraldcorp.com)