Are you Addicted to Work?
Work addiction is real. Where did the 24/7 work world come from? Connectivity for sure: emails, Slack, Teams, and having work apps on our phones.
I used to work like 24/7. Like all day. I’d wake up, and get to our office like 7am sometimes. 7:30. 8am latest. And I’d be so cool, listen, I’d be so cool, I’d stay downtown at the office and get home at like 10 or 11pm. Crushing it.
Right?
Wrong.
The price is Wrong, Bob. It was exhausting. I wish I can go back and tell me all of the magic that could make things different.
That’s okay though, we all make Sacrifices.
And are we any better off now, my loves?
I take a look at my life, which I do, like every week, and have to ask myself am I taking my own advice? Or better, am I even giving myself any advice?
Work / life balance is a game of Tetris
My days are dedicated to my home life, right. COVID and all. While my work life seems to be falling in wherever it can fit, like Tetris.
Eventually all those tetris blocks start creating gaps, you can’t clear the lines fast enough, and then you’re done. The games’ over. Lol.
This GIF is a mess of blocks. It must be the worst game of Tetris I’ve seen played. They’re clearing some lines, but it’ll just keep stacking.
LIFE IS LIKE A GIF. Raise your hands if your day, by 3pm, is a big mix of Tetris blocks: personal, work, chores, home, etc.
I likely see a LOT of hands. Especially if we’re not leaving home to work in an office. We’re living a Tetris gif, clearing the lines, waiting for the next drop.
Work Hard, Play Hard?
Immigrants especially. Our parents likely worked super hard to get here, or their parents did. Mostly. And when here, we also had to work super hard, 2 or 3 jobs at a time, each. Just to get by, not even to get ahead. My parents always gave me the worst advice, well meant though. It was advice to get by.
It wasn’t advice to get ahead. It was advice to be Survivors. Like Destiny’s Child. But I didn’t want to be in Destiny’s Child forever! I want to be BEYONCE!, Mom!
In the Middle-east & other countries like Mexico, siestas in the middle of the day are a thing. You need a break to eat, sleep, r&r.
While our parents also brought this lifestyle over to Canada, the amount of work to survive as immigrants didn’t fit well to create work/life balance.
Our siestas weren’t fun anymore. No noise in the apartment. They were quiet time for parents to get absolute rest before getting back to that next shift.
Japan recently proposed a 4 day work week. I don’t have any insights on that. COVID has started to get us to think differently: quitting our jobs, finding somewhere that lets us work remotely, how we want, when we want, wherever we want! Yeah!
Is this just “Work Hard, Play Hard” in Disguise?
A deeper example is re-living traumas to own them. How hell-bent are we to live and work in a cycle we don’t agree with or that we think is broken?
And, AND if we find ourselves working in a cycle that seems to make sense, are we still somehow just integrating it into an antiquated way of living life & work? Ex. Playing Tetris with it just to SURVIVE?
The Cake is a Lie
The Cake is a Lie is a catchphrase popularized by the game Portal, and is often used to convey the message that a promised gift is being used to motivate without any intent of delivering.
.. that’s where I’m at. I don’t have a banger conclusion. I’ll write something once I’m there though.
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If you’ve read this far… especially if you’re in operations, software development, or design: our team is looking for smart & experienced folks to help us make some real changes in the work / life world around us.
Visit our website to learn more & connect with us if you’re interested. Or, refer a friend.