An extra 20 minutes on your commute affects your mood as much as a 19% pay cut, the study found. To compensate for an hour of travel to the destination, you need a salary increase of about 40%. Driving for more than an hour has been linked to depression, poor sleep, high blood pressure and obesity. In total, over the course of your entire career you can spend about 408 days on the road - more than a year of your life.