I was at a lecture last week, and one of the lecturers said, “It used to be that you worked to live, but now you live to work.” That quote stuck with me because that’s not how I want to live at all. He meant it as a good thing, but I can’t help but bristle hearing those words.
I don’t think life was made to go over spreadsheets all day. Or to spend hours upon hours staring at a computer to figure out how to make your boss the most money. Spending all of the daylight hours inside, just so you can come home in the dark, eat and sleep, and then wake up early to commute back to your job.
And that’s not to say that work isn’t important. With how our society is set up, we need to make money to eat and live, and that’s fine. But we’re constantly being pushed to be more productive. Work late, start early, put in some time on the weekends, get a second job, hustle every second possible. Is that what life should be?
For most of us, our job isn’t that important. I’m not a doctor about to perform some life-saving surgery. The pressure there is more understandable. I’m going to be another office worker, and I’d like to say my job is important, but not so important that I’m going to give up my life to work around the clock.
We need more time to relax. To be with our friends and family. To have time to build community or partake in hobbies. Do we really need to spend five days working with two days off? Or can we do the work in four days and have three off? Personally, I feel more productive coming back from a long weekend because I had time to get everything I needed done and had time to do things for fun. Do we need to be reachable around the clock? Or can I look at that report when I come back into the office the next day?
It feels like there’s so little time for anything that if I’m not being productive, I feel stressed. If I’m at work, obviously I’m working, but when I come home, if I am exhausted and there’s laundry to do, suddenly I’m doing laundry. Or doing dishes, or vacuuming, dusting, or homework. Life doesn’t stop, but maybe we can give ourselves more time to catch up with it so we can engage in different things without stress. See a friend without worrying about the chores waiting for us at home.
I don’t want to live to work. I want to live to experience the parts of life that matter. I want to laugh with my friends, throw the ball for my dogs, talk to my family. I want to enjoy quiet moments in the sunshine, listening to the birds and watching the squirrels scurry around instead of being stuck at a desk. I want to sleep when I’m sick, and not worry about taking up too many sick days. I want to work because I love what I do (and I’m lucky that I do) and be able to leave work at work. No emailing after five, please.