“Hi everyone! This summer, I commuted from my apartment near the UT Austin campus to my internship with Merck at the Dell Medical School. I usually biked, but sometimes I carpooled with my fellow interns when the weather was less friendly (shout out to Izzy, Cole, Shreya, and Nick for getting me through the summer!). I mainly chose to use sustainable commute methods because I dislike driving (and parking on UT’s campus can get expensive!). At fifteen minutes, my commute was pretty short, and I enjoyed starting my day with a quick bike down the Austin hills to work. Of course, going home was a challenge because I had to ride back UP those same hills! I’m a weak biker, so I’d often just get off my bike and push it up the really steep ones! If anyone is thinking about biking to work but is also intimidated by hills, I hope it’s comforting to know that I’m somewhere out there living the struggle too!”Thanks, Karena! Commute Solutions hopes that your story will inspire others to give it a try.
“I use two different forms of commute solutions during my workweek, flex scheduling and teleworking. Four days of the week, I have a flex schedule – 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. – so that I avoid driving during peak traffic times. I am fortunate that I live close to work, but tweaking my schedule 30 minutes earlier allows me to leave home later and still arrive on time to work. Once a week, I telework from the comfort of my home.
One of my favorite benefits of teleworking is that I get to sleep later than I would on a normal weekday. Since I don’t have to get dressed up for work and drive there, it affords me the luxury to sleep an hour past my normal alarm. Additionally, I find that I can be more productive on big projects when working from home since I don’t have the distractions of the office. I choose to telework in order to help improve the region’s air quality and it saves me money by driving less.
My biggest initial challenge with teleworking was adjusting to accessing my work files on my personal computer. However, after a few work-from-home days, I was able to quickly overcome that initial problem. My advice for those interested in working from home or flexing their schedule is to just try it out! Both options allow for the work week to have more flexibility, so you can find more time for what matters to you.”
Thanks, Christiane! Commute Solutions loves that you are able to incorporate a flex schedule and telework into your work week and hopes that your story will inspire others to give it a try.