A work-centric existence doesn't just take our best time, but it often takes our best energy too. Having a more sustainable approach to productivity to work is actually what makes us more productive and effective workers in the long term. We also benefit when we have distinct sources of meaning in our life. But if we're spending all my time working, I can neglect these other aspects of who we are.
We can put huge amounts of physical and emotional energy into our jobs - even basing our self-worth on our achievements at work and letting ourselves be defined by what we do. So have our careers taken over too much of our lives?
Simone Stolzoff (author of The Good Enough Job: Reclaiming Life from Work) argues that we should stop hunting for the "perfect" job - that idealized career that will prove to others how smart, industrious or virtuous we are - and instead find an occupation that allows to us live happier and more rounded lives that don't revolve only around work.
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