Honking horns. Late buses. Cars that swerve into bike lanes. No matter how you get there, it turns out that your commute to work could be driving you closer to burnout on the job.

Researchers analyzed the commuting patterns of almost 2,000 people living in urban and rural areas of Quebec, Canada. They looked at the type of transportation people used — including cars, subways, buses, bicycles or walking — and searched for links to the three dimensions of burnout: emotional burnout, cynicism and professional effectiveness.

They found a link between the quality of the commute and the presentation of symptoms of professional burnout. But you might be surprised to hear that it was the individual situation, rather than one particular type of commuting, that led to symptoms.

For instance, drivers commuting in big cities had more stressful drives. But passengers driving in carpools also reported experiencing high stress levels before even reaching work. People using public transportation to commute in rural areas, where buses and trains typically run less often, also experienced stress. And commuting by bike in the suburbs proves to cause a lot of stress as well, perhaps because of fewer bike-friendly streets.

The researchers say commuting doesn’t have to be a cause of burnout, though. However you commute, try to limit the time to 20 minutes or less, where the risk of burnout is low. If your commute is longer, try to reframe the stressful aspects of your commute by thinking of ways you could change your commute or make it a better experience. Try using commute time as quiet time, listening to music or audio books, or focusing your attention on the sights and sounds as you head from home to work.

Most of all, don’t let a long commute time drive you to cynicism and burnout.