Happiness and the Work-Sleep-Shop Triangle

work-sleep-shop triangleHarvard political scientist Robert Putnam, author of Bowling Alone, proposes that you should minimize your work commute (and the distance from your house to your favorite market) for maximum happiness:

Putnam likes to imagine that there is a triangle, its points comprising where you sleep, where you work, and where you shop. In a canonical English village, or in a university town, the sides of that triangle are very short: a five-minute walk from one point to the next. In many American cities, you can spend an hour or two travelling each side. “You live in Pasadena, work in North Hollywood, shop in the Valley,” Putnam said. “Where is your community?” The smaller the triangle, the happier the human, as long as there is social interaction to be had. In that kind of life, you have a small refrigerator, because you can get to the store quickly and often. By this logic, the bigger the refrigerator, the lonelier the soul.

The home-based web worker eliminates one side of the work-sleep-shop triangle by combining sleeping and working in one place. This is smart — studies show that longer commutes are associated with less happiness.

work-sleep-shop pointBut take care before you collapse your triangle into a single point by working in your bedroom, ordering your groceries from Peapod, and ditching any footwear besides your slippers. Putnam included the caveat “as long as there is social interaction to be had.” Experienced soloists know that reaching out to other people throughout the day — via IM, on conference calls, through Twitter, or even by meeting face to face for coffee or lunch — lessens the isolation of home-based work.

Perhaps, though, you need to get out of the house for work. You could look into a coworking arrangement, where you’ll be working alongside other people. Just make sure it’s a short drive from your home.

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