People like to work
Mar. 15th, 2026 10:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
glowingfishPeople like to work.
and
People like work.
I am self-employed and work from home, and get to (more or less) select my own schedule. Which makes working easier for me, in general. Parts of my life are pretty easy.
I have also never really had a 9-5, M-F office job.
One thing I know is that people like to complain about work, and like to imagine that they would be happy without work. And maybe some people really would be happy without work. But I think that even if money wasn't a problem, after a week or two of no set times to be places, most people would start feeling bored.
It is kind of like cake and frosting, frosting on your cake is fun, eating frosting out of the can is...not fun. Having a day off from tasks and schedules is fun. Living a life without them just feels bloated and gross and pointless.
Here is another thing I have noticed: people who say they don't like work also have it as their main subject. And I can understand, sometimes work is a relatable subject that people can share. But often the same people who claim they hate work and would be happy doing nothing will give exhaustive accounts of everything that happens at work, and its always the "workiest" things that capture their interest. Did Janice in accounting ask you to move your powerpoint a half hour forward, and then she still wasn't ready when it was her time to present? This, and her lack of bullet points on slide 5, are going to be dissected in great detail.
So...I would say, that complaints to the contrary, work is how people center most of their lives, and that most people wouldn't know what to do without work/a job.
and
People like work.
I am self-employed and work from home, and get to (more or less) select my own schedule. Which makes working easier for me, in general. Parts of my life are pretty easy.
I have also never really had a 9-5, M-F office job.
One thing I know is that people like to complain about work, and like to imagine that they would be happy without work. And maybe some people really would be happy without work. But I think that even if money wasn't a problem, after a week or two of no set times to be places, most people would start feeling bored.
It is kind of like cake and frosting, frosting on your cake is fun, eating frosting out of the can is...not fun. Having a day off from tasks and schedules is fun. Living a life without them just feels bloated and gross and pointless.
Here is another thing I have noticed: people who say they don't like work also have it as their main subject. And I can understand, sometimes work is a relatable subject that people can share. But often the same people who claim they hate work and would be happy doing nothing will give exhaustive accounts of everything that happens at work, and its always the "workiest" things that capture their interest. Did Janice in accounting ask you to move your powerpoint a half hour forward, and then she still wasn't ready when it was her time to present? This, and her lack of bullet points on slide 5, are going to be dissected in great detail.
So...I would say, that complaints to the contrary, work is how people center most of their lives, and that most people wouldn't know what to do without work/a job.
no subject
Date: 2026-03-17 10:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-03-18 11:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-03-19 03:40 am (UTC)What you said about work was interesting. I've read a couple of books lately that one way or the other illuminate the huge disconnect between work and home/family that grew out of the industrial revolution. I mean, "work-life balance"--you just have to stop a minute to realize what an insane formulation that is. Like, you're not alive when you're at work? You work only so you can have "life," in the little bit of time that's left?
no subject
Date: 2026-03-20 05:31 am (UTC)