The commute is gone and remote workers spent those hours on something no office could ever give them

For the tens of millions of Americans who work remotely on any given weekday, every day is already a work-from-home day. National Work From Home Day just makes it official. It also raises a question worth sitting with: what did workers do with the time remote work gave back?

The answer, it turns out, is pretty human. A long-term analysis of American time-use data found that when the commute disappears, workers put that time toward sleep, cooking, exercise and family. Not strategy sessions. The ordinary stuff that makes a day feel like a life. 

The alarm stopped being the enemy

Seven in 10 remote workers report lower stress since leaving full-time office schedules. A lot of that comes down to sleep. Workers who don’t have to catch a 7 a.m. train are getting more of it, and the difference shows up well before noon. Better sleep means sharper focus and fewer sick days. None of that shows up in a productivity dashboard, but all of it changes how a workday feels.

Lunch became a real meal again

The desk granola bar is gone. In its place: an actual meal, made in an actual kitchen, eaten sitting down. Seventy-one percent of Americans say cooking is more stress-relieving than stressful, and 83% say eating with others is better for their mental health. Among people who planned to spend more time in the kitchen, 81% cited health as the reason. The home kitchen was always there. What changed was having the hour to use it.

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The midday walk became a real thing

The commute was often the only walking some people did all day. Research on American time-use data found that exercise time increased for remote workers on their home days compared with workers required to be on-site. The midday walk, the workout between calls, the run that used to need a 5 a.m. alarm: those aren’t aspirational anymore. They’re on Tuesday afternoon.

The people at home got more of the day

More than 6 in 10 remote workers say they now have more room for family and personal pursuits, per the same remote work well-being survey. A child gets a parent home before dinner. An aging parent gets the check-in call that used to fall through the cracks. A partner doesn’t have to handle everything alone because someone is available at 3 p.m. The hour that used to go to a highway goes there instead.

It adds up to more than flexibility

The return-to-office debate will keep going. But the workers living this every day already know what the data confirms: the best hours of the workday are the ones that used to disappear before it even started.

Jennifer Allen is a retired chef turned traveler, cookbook author and nationally syndicated journalist; she’s also a co-founder of Food Drink Life, where she shares expert travel tips, cruise insights and luxury destination guides. A recognized cruise expert with a deep passion for high-end experiences and off-the-beaten-path destinations, Jennifer explores the world with curiosity, depth and a storyteller’s perspective. Her articles are regularly featured on the Associated Press Wire, The Washington Post, Seattle Times, MSN and more.

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