Why not work even longer?

My wife and I currently work about 3 days per week. Even just typing that feels like a rebellious act in a society that herds us towards five days a week of work.

My wife was recently doing one of those "graduate outcomes" surveys that the university arranges.

It asked how much she works. When the answer was less than 5 days, it asked if she was looking for more work. She said no and was asked to choose one of the following reasons.

They thought up 10 options and not one was even close to "this is how much I want to work".

Each option was just a variation of 'There's no work for me' or 'I have no time'.

It's as if they couldn't even imagine a person who doesn't long to hand over even more of their life to work.

I reckon that surveys like this, and about a hundred other things, herd/lure/peer-pressure us into working 5 days per week even though there's no real reason to.

Comments

Offline

Yes, by now we all know that smartphones and social media are doing us harm. How do we harness the benefits of them without the destructive effects. The book Offline makes 5 main points. If you've only got a minute, here they are: The addictive design keeps us on online platforms longer. The 'brain hacks' disrupt our brain's ability to function. Humans need "real" interaction, and social media does not deliver this. Technoference (digital over-riding direct interactions at the play ground, coffee shop, dinner table) result in something valuable being lost. Speed of the transformation is astounding. 75% of people are connected, with almost half using social media. We have no idea what the long-term effects of this real-life experiment will be. Going a bit deeper, here are some of my highlights from the book. So what are side-effects? According to various studies, the effects can be grouped into the physiological (poor sleep, neural re-wiring, and increased str...

$500 free money for your super

If you're on a low-to-middle income, the Australian government will give you up to $500 co-contribution towards your retirement. Here's how to get it. Check your eligibility. What counts as "low-to-middle income"? Right now, people earning under $39,837 can get up to the full $500. People earning up to $54,837 can get at least part of it. There's some other technical eligibility rules , including that you are 70 or younger, have lodged your tax return (to verify your income) and that 10% of your income comes from employment or running a business. Not sure why that last rule exists, but it does. Oh, and here's the one that stops most people from getting their free money... Start saving yourself There's a reason it's called co- contribution. To get the money you have to put some of your own money into your superannuation. Some people don't like doing this. But really it's just giving money to your future self. It doesn't includ...

What is Black Friday? (and how to beat it)

Black Friday is a contest. It's you versus the retailer. Read on to find out how to come out ahead. Here in Australia the 'Black Friday' sales have emerged in the last couple of years - but what does it mean? When is Black Friday? Black Friday is the first Friday after Thanksgiving. Yes, Thanksgiving - that American holiday we don't celebrate here. Pretty weird, huh? It's like having Boxing Day without Christmas Day. What happens on Black Friday? In the USA, and increasingly here, stores hold simultaneous sales in order to get shoppers into a buying frenzy. Some offer deals like 20% off everything. Other have big mark-downs on specific items in order to get you in the store - to sell you other stuff you never wanted in the first place. Isn't 20% off a good thing? Not really. There's a psychological effect called anchoring . If there's a jacket for $40 it's no big deal. But if the shop says it's on sale from $50, suddenly we think it'...

But wait... there's less!

Search This Blog