I've been taking the same exit off the highway for 8 years and just found out it adds 12 minutes to my drive.

My passenger yesterday pointed out that the next exit, which I always thought was for trucks only, actually has a lane that dumps you right onto my street, and I feel like a complete idiot for never noticing the sign.

3 comments

3 Comments

gavinb972mo ago

Wait, have you ever mapped out your whole commute on something like Google Maps with the traffic layer turned on? I always just drove the way I learned when I first moved here, but one day I let the app reroute me for heavy traffic and it took me down streets I didn't even know connected. It's crazy how our brains just autopilot a route and we stop seeing the signs. That 12 minutes every day for 8 years adds up to a stupid amount of wasted time, like weeks of your life just gone. Makes you wonder what else we're all missing right in front of us because we're stuck in a routine.

adamk952mo ago

I read a study once that called this "commuter's blindness." They tracked drivers for a month and found most people stopped actively looking for route changes after just two weeks of taking the same path. Your brain basically decides the job is learned and stops processing new info from that drive.

the_viola2mo ago

Check out the traffic layer like gavinb97 said, it shows how bad commuter's blindness really is. @adamk95 is right about the brain going on autopilot, but we can fight it. You just have to force yourself to look for a new route once in a while.