I haven’t written much lately, because of work. I went just over 70 hours for the last week. That is an enormous amount of time at the office.
I’ve actually kind of enjoyed it. I am super happy it isn’t like that all year; otherwise, I would burn out…however, I sort of get off on doing what other people don’t think is possible.
I’ve said in the past, many times, that I don’t understand why people work so much. When I was unemployed I actually did a fair amount of research (most documented here on this site) into how much Americans work compared to other countries (9 weeks more on average than Europeans). If I take a notion I’ll link to some of them…..which express my bewilderment that the richest nation in the world need work such long hours when all research shows that money is not making us any happier.
Well, I think that is undisputable. Money doesn’t get you happiness….however, satisfying work can…and that is what I misssed. There are all those stats that say no one is happy at their jobs, and everyone is looking to change employers, and that, if given the option (which they often don’t have), people would choose more leisure/family time over more money….but there is a percentage, albeit not great, that simply work because it is the most exciting thing they have available to them. Stressful, yes…but exciting too.
It requires teamwork, coordination, technology, money, tight deadlines, a high degree of accuracy, lots of autonomy, and too much planning….but how often do you get to give 120,000 people healthcare worth tens of millions of dollars….and you are in charge of that?? while at the same time working on a project that will be rolled out to millions of people combining healthcare and 401k planning in one online tool? It certainly is more exciting than making a grocery list or painting the shutters.
And that is what all the business literature means when it talks about the “talent shortage”. It isn’t a people shortage, or a brains shortage (lots of people are smart). It is a shortage of people that get off on doing what other people think is impossible…and can actually move that idea to action. Those people really are in short supply.
I work with alot of smart people…almost all of them actually…but some of them don’t ever seem to get anything done for some reason, and it is confusing to me. They are capable, but for some reason they can’t get the car out of the garage so to speak. I think I’m going to try to figure out why.
Is that a shallow life to get meaning from work…since you’re really just working for the MAN? Maybe in some ways….however, I would argue that the reason the people like the work is because it brings a degree of meaning to their lives….a life lived with meaning is never wasted, and I think the very opposite of shallow…since shallow, by definition, would be without meaning or substance.
I would still move to Europe in a heartbeat. Don’t get me wrong. I still don’t LIKE or wouldn’t CHOOSE to work so much; there are too many other things I like to do…however, I do see the draw now…which I didn’t get before. It is like an addiction….to doing something somewhat meaningful, or being excellent, or want of success. A lot of people don’t get the chance to do any of those things.
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