We Glorify Overwork and Refuse to Rest

But what to do if you really love what you do and can achieve really good results in your work, better than anyone else? It's a source of pride and recognition, no wonder it becomes part of your identity. Now imagine working out instead -everyone can do that, you won't achieve anything interesting this way. Same with bike riding or hobby woodworking - want some results you have to work long hours for that. No point in feeling guilty because you love your job, just don't neglect other responsibilities in life.

I prefer being busy while at work, and I prefer working fewer hours but there’s not really an avenue to make that happen except for ambiguous policies like “unlimited vacation” that just make me perpetually anxious.

I&#x27;ll do one better. I am strongly opposed to 2023 term : &#x27;career&#x27;.<p>It&#x27;s a common excuse : &quot;I cannot do &lt;insert fun thing&gt;, or have to do &lt;insert undesirable thing&gt; for my career.&quot;<p>The word is now untethered from all responsibilities and benefits that came from being a career professional, and instead just signifies the constant urge to be working in pursuit of some arbitrary career.<p>Your career used to be a lifetime job. Your coworkers were your neighbors. Your boss was your mentor. Your company men send their children to the same school and you retired with a hefty pension. Your wife&#x27;s friends were your coworkers&#x27; wives. Work was real work. You made physical products or you worked at your own little shop.<p>It&#x27;s all gone now.<p>Now, &#x27;Career&#x27; throws you around the world, destroying your communities. Dual-income households have to choose between career and children. Pensions are dead (For good imo). Most people work on things without clear positive real-life impacts and you own none of it. Your boss is incentivized to abuse you in a capitalistic rat race until you burn out, and your kids get thrown in the same blender at school at an even earlier age.<p>So I ask, what even is a career ?

Overwork is signaling. There is nothing productive about it. I have seen coworkers who literally spends their entire lives in the office; the amount of actual output they create is negligible. They loudly claim how hard they work and put down people who go home at five. It is nothing more than a cult of stupidity.<p>From the article: <i>Over time, it leads to diminishing productivity, higher rates of burnout, and even to increased likelihood of mortality. A 2021 World Health Organization study found that working 55 or more hours per week — compared to 35-40 hours — is associated with a 35% higher risk of a stroke and a 17% higher risk of dying from heart disease. What sets workaholism apart from other forms of addiction — especially in a capitalist economy that reveres money above all else — is that it’s not only socially acceptable, but also materially and socially rewarded.</i>