WORKING IS LIVING
Work/life balance is a well- worn phrase- It is misguided. The concept lies behind the sound bite of John McDonnell when he discusses the Labour 4-day week proposal, and he says, “We work to live, we do not live to work.”
This concept, along with ideas such as counting down the days or years to retirement, indicates a life philosophy which so risks wasting the life gift we have. Indeed, perhaps the idea of retirement should be consigned to the bin as it connotes a life of rest. We do live to work, because working is a necessary part of life.
FINDING A JOB TO LOVE -AMBITION
It is said, possibly by Mark Twain, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life”. Aspirational yes, but if an individual does not aspire, second or third best will always be the prize.
People should be more ambitious than to take a job where their aim is to do less work. Parents, schools, career advisers, and most of all employers should seek to instil a desire in all of us to find a job we love, and to do it well. If we do that, our contribution to society which we all must make will be the greater, and the chances are we will feed and shelter ourselves and our dependents as most grown-ups seek to do. Even if the job one has is less than ideal, let’s find a way to make it as enjoyable as possible ( e.g. the shop assistant who actively engages a customer , has a meaningful conversation and is seen to care, with a smile, gets a satisfaction unknown to the surly unresponsive reluctant colleague).
WORK/REST OF LIFE BALANCE
Of course, John McDonnell has a point. The worker (i.e. in our terms all people who work, whatever the role) should have enough non-working time, to devote to self and share with others. We thoroughly support the concept of work/rest of life balance.
The ethic of hard work and doing one’s best is old fashioned but essential to enjoying our working life. If that were engendered in our society many issues of dissatisfaction would be solved without having to just throw money at a problem, which is the usual, but unthinking, solution. Finding a job, one loves, or even just likes, will enhance those benefits several fold.
To achieve that, an individual must maximise their skills- every individual has skill: it is a question of finding and being aware of it, and then nurturing it. Arguably people spend excessive time trying to master things they are unskilled at, rather than developing their natural skillset.
PLANNING TO WORK HAPPILY IN A LONG LIFE
Last, but very important, in the UK and many other countries, the possibility of living until 100 +years of age is a real probability for those born today. (That is barring an existential destructive event which for life planning purposes must be ignored). That needs to be planned for, especially because, if living longer, the State (in reality the younger people) cannot be expected to fund life for very long. If the individual faces the challenge of getting trained, and perhaps retrained, in useful skills, the chances of having a job one loves and becoming good at it increase dramatically. An easy upskill in the job one has is to work on ways of making it more enjoyable, perhaps in collaboration with colleagues. Every person should be encouraged in this way, and Government can provide the framework in which the individual can make it happen. The positive, self- responsibility approach, if supported by employers, can transform the workplace and its enjoyment. Otherwise the alternative of aspiring to work as little as possible will become endemic and all will suffer. What a waste that would be. “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life”. (You may also like to read the book “The 100- year Life “referenced in the related article under “Commentaries, Other Stuff and Leisure” in this website.)
