There was a time when I used to go to Gurgaon from Faridabad through Public Transport which used to take 6 hours bothways. It was crazy. It happened to be my first job and my excitement fueled me with energy to handle that extreme stress of taking an auto rickshaw to a delhi metro, a shared cab and in between the transitions an hour long walking. It was a tiring affair.

I managed to optimise the commute time by finding different routes and modes of transport and brought down that time to 4 hours but things were tiring and crazy.

In 5 months, I was convinced that I need a car to save my soul and hell lot of time so my parents bought one for me and I paid all the installments every month. It brought the time of commute to 2 hours. That was pretty relaxing comparing with 6 hours getting lost in public and public transport.

But Gurgaon has world's one of the busiest traffic which used to make the commute time very tiring as perpetually you have to accelerate and apply brakes. Besides losing time, mental sanity, you also utilise your cognitive resources way too much ( brain and other senses works too hard that they get tired and need resting period for coming back to efficient stage ).

In a year, the decision was made. I was absolutely convinced that I had to leave my job. It didn't matter how much I loved to work with my colleagues as they were brightest set of people I came across during that time.

That's nearly the picture of so many people like me. Majority of human beings who are aged between the 22 and 55 are indulged in some sort of employment in any part of the world. We are part of a rat race where we wake up every morning to get ready for the office, spend hours in commute and 8 to 10 good hours at work and commute back to home to have the final meal of the day and go to bed to sleep absolutely exhausted.

That's the life of millions around chasing their dream life, better life for their children, their family.

No time to keep up with the hobbies, a few nights can be spent reading. Can't really follow the gym routine due to irregular work frequently, social life is notion reserved for only weekends.

As a result, we not only get extremely busy minds but also deteroited health and relationships with families and friends as both needs constant attention, nurturing.

So, how can we design an ideal life for working professionals like me and many others in their mid 20s?

Best way is to find a job nearby the home. Ideally an hour to work bothways should be upper bound, 30 minutes would be just perfect.

So what are the other alternatives?

Besides finding a job nearby your home, you can start freelancing or private contracting ( if you are proficient enough with good networking and communication skills ). That will give you luxury of time and defining your working hours and the cost of services you offer.

You can also become a part time blogger who can generate some income from it. If you are a coder, you can start your side project which if takes off, can replace your full time job.

The catch there is to leave your full time job once your side project starts generating atleast 3/4th of your present salary. That will ensure that your living standard is maintained and you don't get desperate to join the rat race again.

One of the most inspiring books I read about side-projects is The 4-Hour Work Week: Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich.

It taught me how I could drop out of the mudane rat race and follow my passion while keeping my life financially sustainable. Perhaps you should see it a read as well if you are planning to hop out of your rat race.

I got inspired by following post(s) to write on this topic:

1. http://beta.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-lopez-commute-cherry-2017... - It is a story of a lady who commutes for about 6 hours to work ( both sides ) and spends about 10 hours at work. She sleeps for about 4.5 hours a day and She is 60 years old. Surely you won't want that kind of life for yourself.