Arina Kholina - about why working 7 days a week does not bring happiness.
I'm sure I'm made for pleasure. I was just born into the wrong family. If my parents were millionaires, I would not do anything, I would spend time in idleness, travel, pleasure.
“Well, no…,” my friend smiles when I tell him this. “You couldn't. You would get bored."
But how can fun be boring? Not for me. And people who say: “What to do on vacation? On the second day I want to work. " They scare me. Of course, I envy them sometimes - I also have to work, but I never want to. I would like it to be. But I can't convince myself.
They say that now the new topic is not to be rich, but to be productive. That is, how to work not for the sake of money (and what you can buy with it), but for the sake of the work itself. 24/7/365.
Examples are Tim Cook from Apple (starts at 3.54 a.m.), Jeffrey Immelt from General Electrics (works 100 hours a week), Marissa Mayer from Yahoo (130 hours a week). That is, Mayer works 26 hours a day (assuming that a week is a work week, that is, 5 days). Well, or 19 hours a day, if we have 7 days. Is she sleeping for 4 hours? And during these 4 hours does she manage to wash (does she wash ?!), get dressed, eat twice? Seriously?
Who are these people anyway ?! Which planet sent them to take over our old Earth?
And, in general, there is nothing new here. The Protestant work ethic so characteristic of the United States assures us that "work is prayer" and for rest is Sunday, and that this day is best dedicated to prayer and God. It has always been. Therefore, American corporations are known for their inhuman routines, which, hurray, are very bad at taking root in Europe.
Because any European Protestants (even Finns, even Germans) still do not support the idea of "we live to work" so much. And here's an interesting moment - in northern European countries, where the main confession is Protestantism, today it is almost socialism. Earn and share. And in such a workaholic USA there is a rather nasty form of capitalism, where a person without work and medical insurance is practically defenseless. Okay, it's a little better now, but it's still nothing compared to Germany or Denmark.
They say that these billionaires, who have already earned ten lives for themselves, are not working for money. This is already a pure noble impulse, art for the sake of art.
That also happens. When people use this money to build schools, kindergartens, houses for workers, institutes, they invest in science. It happens. But in its pure form - by no means everywhere. There are examples when they spend everything they earn on development (and not their own), but let's be honest - these are exceptions.
Usually people work "for the sake of work" simply because they don't know how to live. Maybe they don't need it. And they are in their own right.
But only to me the option is clear and just as pleasant as in the south - when people do not strain themselves, but get maximum pleasure from life.
Spaniards, Portuguese, Italians - I adore them for their dolce far niente skill. This is wonderful doing nothing. You know, it’s not just given. To be able to beautifully and enjoyably spend two hours of lunchtime over a bowl of shellfish, a decanter of wine and coffee, you need to feel the process subtly. One must be able to sit in the sun, enjoying every breath, one must be able not to rush, one must realize that these very moments are the most valuable.
I met a friend here on his lunch break. In his rightful hour of rest. First, an hour is forty minutes. Minus 10 minutes for the round trip. For about 7 minutes we order / they bring us food, for ten minutes he writes on business, and then the bill. Had a great time. Best half hour of my life.
And the question is not that he really cannot put off work, but that he does not respect his free time. If you work 24/7, then you have this false sense of your own worth - you are a hard worker, you contribute, you are on the move. But even if we put aside the idea that a person should relax and enjoy life, then this endless movement is usually very similar to meaningless vanity.
What did the same Tim Cook, the head of Apple, do? Red iPhone? Previously, Apple's presentations were an event, a sensation, today the reaction is: "Oh, well … There is nothing to write home about."
Steve Jobs has done more in his life than all Cookies, Meyer and Immelta. What has Apple and Cook become? Yes, nothing. Well, what's the point of wrestling like that? And Yahoo? What is our Mayer doing there while Google is tearing them apart? What does she do during these 26 hours a day? Sorting through papers? Thinks over motivation for employees?
"Demonstrative productivity," as fashionable workaholism is now called, is of no use. Workaholics, as a rule, do not get the world off the ground. They are puffing, puffing, marking time. Because they just don't have time to think about something new.
Probably, this also makes sense, but just what?
If you do not feel the hot and spicy breath of life, then this spark simply does not flash in you, which in one second changes the course of history. The best work is idleness, only during it the very insights that make us great come to us (even at the micro level - and who, in general, decides what is important in life and what is not so great?). Take care of your free time - do not give it to anyone, value every hour, turn off your phone, cling to every second. Life should not pass by - moreover, hunched over shoulders, buried in the phone, not noticing anything around. And workaholics - they just hide from themselves. And somehow it is not very pleasant to think that at seventy years old you will still be with yourself, with a person who, along with work, has lost the meaning of existence.
Author: Arina Kholina
