The daughter of a friend of mine recently left university and entered the world of work, taking on a temporary office job. At the end of her first week, she phoned home in tears. “It’s horrible,” she complained to her mother, adding: “There’s no time to do anything else. I’m so tired when I get home in the evenings that all I can do is watch TV. And then I have to get up early the next morning and do it all again. If this is what work is like, I don’t want to spend my whole life doing it.”
Many of us might sympathize with her feelings of dismay. The daily grind of modern employment can make weekends, holidays and the prospect of retirement highly treasured prospects.
So is the equivalent of a four-day working week, as proposed by the UK’s Labour party, really such a bizarre idea? Aside from the fact that working shorter hours might actually make us more productive, there is no doubt that it would enhance our well-being.
If you’re lucky, you might have a job that is stimulating and fulfilling. But I would argue that even then, work should not be the main aspect of your life, or its defining feature. Working 40 hours a week makes our lives narrow and constricted, meaning we lose sight of whole vistas of possibility and adventure.
There’s so much to learn in life, so many different ways to develop, so many experiences to absorb, so many activities to enjoy (including doing nothing). When we spend so much time working, it’s difficult to find time and energy for anything else.
A working history
After all, work as we know it is a relatively modern activity. For the whole history of the human race up until a few thousand years ago, human beings lived as hunter-gatherers. Their main job was to find food, and perhaps surprisingly, they didn’t have to work particularly hard to do this.
Some anthropologists have estimated that contemporary hunter-gatherers who follow the same simple lifestyle as our prehistoric ancestors only spend around four hours a day searching for food. The rest of the time is leisure time.
Life only really became difficult once our ancestors started farming. Grinding food out of the soil was a lot more labor intensive than hunting or picking fruit from trees.
Then came the industrial revolution, when human beings were imprisoned in factories and mills for almost all of their waking hours, treated as nothing more than objects of labor, working in appalling conditions for appalling wages, and usually dying at a young age.
Working conditions are far better now, at least in more economically developed parts of the world. But I think we still haven’t gone far enough in a positive direction.
We’re still living with the legacy of the industrial revolution, in thrall to a mistaken idea that work defines us and should be the primary pursuit of our lives. We’re still living as economic objects whose main value is what we can produce.
What’s the alternative, you might ask. If we didn’t work so hard, our economies would fail, and we would all be living in poverty. But this isn’t necessarily the case.
Less work, more sleep, better life
In continental Europe, working hours are significantly shorter than in the US and the UK, and productivity is actually higher. Countries like Holland and Denmark are more economically successful than the US or the UK. And not uncoincidentally, they also have higher levels of well-being.
Working less does not mean economic failure. In fact, the opposite may be true. It may be that longer working hours just make people tired and resentful, and therefore less productive. There is also evidence that too much work impairs our health, leading to poor sleep and an increased risk of conditions such as heart diseaseand type 2 diabetes.
Crucially, working less has many psychological benefits. It means less stress and anxiety. It means better relationships, because we spend time with our loved ones, and have more energy to give them.
It also gives us more opportunity to live authentically through following our own innate interests, so that we spend more time in the positive state that psychologists call “flow” (when we are intensely absorbed in enjoyable activities). We have more time and energy to nurture our creativity, which also leads to a more meaningful and purposeful life
Working less also enables us to experience the joys of doing nothing in particular. In my research, one of my areas of interest is individuals who undergo a life transformation following periods of intense turmoil or stress, or a close encounter with death. I call this “post-traumatic transformation.”
People who experience this often report that they feel more grateful for life, more connected to nature; that they have more authentic relationships and become more creative and spiritual.
Another change is that they are no longer so interested in work. They love to spend their time doing nothing in particular, just enjoying being in the moment and being alive in the world.
And perhaps we are at a point when we need to rethink our whole relationship with economics. It’s clear that the world’s population cannot keep producing and consuming material goods at the present rate.
The environmental effects are simply too severe. Our planet is already suffering the strain, and won’t be able to withstand much more damage. A recent report by a think tank suggested that working less should be one of the tools we utilize to avert climate catastrophe.
The modern emphasis on work is completely out of proportion, and harmful to our well-being. One thing is for sure: if you spend nearly all your waking hours working, then it doesn’t matter whether you’re a millionaire businessman or a successful financial analyst. You’re not really so different from a factory worker in a 19th-century industrial town.
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Binti ya rafiki yangu mmoja hivi karibuni aliacha chuo kikuu na kuingia katika ulimwengu wa kazi, akichukua kazi ya muda katika ofisi. Mwishoni mwa juma lake la kwanza, alipiga simu nyumbani akiwa na machozi. "Ni jambo la kutisha", alilalamika kwa mama yake, akiongeza: "Hakuna wakati wa kufanya kitu kingine chochote. Mimi ni hivyo uchovu wakati mimi kupata nyumbani jioni kwamba wote naweza kufanya ni kuangalia TV. Na kisha ni lazima niamke mapema asubuhi inayofuata na kufanya yote tena. Kama hii ni nini kazi ni kama, Sitaki kutumia maisha yangu yote kufanya hivyo. Wengi wetu inaweza kuunga mkono hisia zake za mshtuko. Kazi ya kila siku ya kazi ya kisasa inaweza kufanya miisho-juma, likizo na matarajio ya kustaafu kuwa matarajio ya thamani sana. "Kwa hivyo, sawa na wiki ya kazi ya siku nne, kama ilivyopendekezwa na chama cha Labour cha Uingereza, ni wazo la ajabu sana?""" Mbali na ukweli kwamba kufanya kazi kwa muda mfupi kwa kweli kunaweza kutufanya tuwe wenye matokeo zaidi, hakuna shaka kwamba kungezidisha hali yetu ya afya. Ikiwa una bahati, huenda ukawa na kazi inayokuchochea na kukutosheleza. Lakini hata hivyo, kazi haipaswi kuwa sehemu kuu ya maisha yako. Kufanya kazi masaa 40 kwa wiki hufanya maisha yetu kuwa nyembamba na nyembamba, ikimaanisha tunapoteza mtazamo kamili wa uwezekano na adventure. Kuna mengi sana ya kujifunza katika maisha, njia nyingi tofauti za kuendeleza, uzoefu mwingi wa kunyonya, shughuli nyingi za kufurahia (ikiwa ni pamoja na kufanya chochote). Tunapotumia wakati mwingi kufanya kazi, ni vigumu kupata wakati na nishati kwa ajili ya jambo lingine lolote. Baada ya yote, kazi kama tunavyoijua ni shughuli ya kisasa. Katika historia ya binadamu, hadi miaka elfu chache iliyopita, watu waliishi kama wawindaji-wakusanyaji. Kazi yao kuu ilikuwa kupata chakula, na labda kwa kushangaza, hawakuwa na kufanya kazi kwa bidii kufanya hivyo. Wataalamu wa jamii ya binadamu wamekadiria kwamba wawindaji-wakusanyaji wa kisasa ambao hufuata mtindo wa maisha rahisi kama wa babu zetu wa kabla ya historia hutumia saa nne tu kwa siku kutafuta chakula. Wakati mwingine ni wakati wa kupumzika. Maisha yakawa magumu sana wakati tu mababu zetu walipoanza kulima. Kusaga chakula kutoka ardhini kulichukua kazi nyingi kuliko kuwinda au kukusanya matunda kutoka kwenye miti. Kisha ikaja mapinduzi ya viwanda, wakati wanadamu walipokuwa wamekamatwa katika viwanda na viwanda kwa karibu saa zote za kuamka kwao, wakitendewa kama vitu vya kazi tu, wakifanya kazi katika hali mbaya kwa mshahara mbaya, na kwa kawaida kufa wakiwa na umri mdogo. Hali za kazi ni bora zaidi sasa, angalau katika sehemu zilizoendelea zaidi kiuchumi za ulimwengu. Lakini nadhani bado hatujaenda mbali vya kutosha katika mwelekeo chanya. Bado tunaishi na urithi wa mapinduzi ya viwanda, katika utumwa wa wazo lisilo la kweli kwamba kazi hutufahamu na inapaswa kuwa utafutaji wa msingi wa maisha yetu. Bado tunaishi kama vitu vya kiuchumi ambavyo thamani yao kuu ni kile tunachoweza kuzalisha. Unaweza kuuliza, ni nini mbadala? Kama hatungefanya kazi kwa bidii sana, uchumi wetu ungeshindwa, na sisi sote tungekuwa tukiishi katika umaskini. Lakini hii si lazima kuwa kesi. Kazi kidogo, usingizi zaidi, maisha bora: Katika Ulaya ya bara, masaa ya kazi ni ya muda mfupi kuliko Marekani na Uingereza, na uzalishaji ni kweli juu. Nchi kama Uholanzi na Denmark zina mafanikio zaidi ya kiuchumi kuliko Marekani au Uingereza. Na si kwa bahati mbaya, wao pia wana viwango vya juu vya ustawi. Kufanya kazi kidogo hakumaanishi kushindwa kiuchumi. Kwa kweli, kinyume chake chaweza kuwa kweli. Huenda ikawa kwamba kufanya kazi kwa muda mrefu hufanya watu wawe wamechoka na wenye chuki, na kwa hiyo wawe wasio na matokeo. Kuna ushahidi pia kwamba kazi nyingi sana huathiri afya yetu, na kusababisha usingizi mbaya na kuongezeka kwa hatari ya hali kama vile ugonjwa wa moyo na aina ya 2 kisukari. Jambo la muhimu ni kwamba kufanya kazi kidogo kuna faida nyingi za kisaikolojia. Hiyo inamaanisha mkazo na wasiwasi mdogo. Hii inamaanisha mahusiano bora, kwa sababu tunatumia wakati na wapendwa wetu, na tuna nishati zaidi ya kuwapa. "Hiyo pia inatuwezesha kuishi kwa njia ya kweli kwa kufuata maslahi yetu ya asili, ili tutumie muda zaidi katika hali nzuri ambayo wanasaikolojia wanaiita ""mtiririko"" (wakati tunapojihusisha sana na shughuli za kufurahisha)." Tuna muda na nishati zaidi ya kukuza ubunifu wetu, ambayo pia inaongoza kwa maisha yenye maana zaidi na yenye kusudi, kufanya kazi kidogo pia hutusaidia kupata furaha ya kufanya chochote. Katika utafiti wangu, moja ya maeneo ya maslahi yangu ni watu ambao hupitia mabadiliko ya maisha baada ya vipindi vya msukosuko mkali au mkazo, au kukutana karibu na kifo. "Watu ambao wamepata mabadiliko haya mara nyingi wanaripoti kuwa wanahisi shukrani zaidi kwa maisha, wameunganishwa zaidi na asili, wana mahusiano ya kweli zaidi na wanakuwa wabunifu zaidi na wa kiroho. """ Mabadiliko mengine ni kwamba hawapendezwi tena na kazi. Wanapenda kutumia wakati wao kufanya kitu chochote hasa, tu kufurahia kuwa katika wakati na kuwa hai katika dunia. Na labda tumefika hatua ambapo tunahitaji kufikiria tena uhusiano wetu wote na uchumi. Ni wazi kwamba idadi ya watu duniani haiwezi kuendelea kuzalisha na kutumia bidhaa za kimwili kwa kiwango cha sasa. Athari za mazingira ni kali sana. Sayari yetu tayari inateseka kutokana na mkazo huo, na haiwezi kuvumilia uharibifu zaidi. Ripoti ya hivi karibuni ya think tank ilionyesha kuwa kufanya kazi kidogo inapaswa kuwa moja ya zana tunazotumia kuzuia janga la hali ya hewa. Mkazo wa kisasa juu ya kazi ni kabisa nje ya uwiano, na ni mbaya kwa ustawi wetu. Jambo moja ni hakika: kama wewe kutumia karibu saa yako yote ya kuamka kufanya kazi, basi haina jambo kama wewe ni mfanyabiashara mamilionea au mtaalamu wa mafanikio ya kifedha. Kwa kweli, si tofauti sana na mfanyakazi wa kiwanda katika mji wa viwanda wa karne ya 19. Chanzo: Soma makala nzima