A Few Words on Work

What are we working for? Why are we working so much? I suggest that our national addiction and enslavement to work is partly a result of our failure to ask: what kind of life do we truly want? So many people mindlessly obey a script given to them by society and family. They have kids because that’s what you do; they buy the luxury SUV to tout their status; they get buried in student-loan debt to chase a career they’re supposed to have.

And the result is we’re all so damn busy. When people ask how you’re doing, you don’t dare say, “I’m great…not working too hard, relaxing, playing hooky.” No, we know the drill. We must be busy to justify our worth. But do we want to be this busy?

I want to work less. To this end, lately I am developing a habit. When I make a purchase, I ask how long I’ll have to work to pay for it. This achieves two things: 1) it prevents frivolous purchases, and 2) it reminds me of my desire to work less. Am I not ambitious? Quite the opposite. I am ambitious for more time free of work; free of bosses, schedules, and bullshit tasks. My definition of success is: doing the things you most enjoy, with the people you most enjoy, most of the time.