Are You Work-Obsessed?

Do you love your job… maybe a little too much? Do you identify yourself by how you make a living? When you meet someone at a party, is your first question typically some variation on the classic, “So, what do you do?”?

If you answered “yes” to all of the above, you should find a better icebreaker —?and more crucially, you may be a “workist.” This creature of corporate America (not to be confused with the workaholic or the careerist) is searching for much more than a paycheck from their 9 to 5, Simone Stolzoff explains in his new book, The Good Enough Job. The workist expects their occupation to supply them with a sense of meaning, community, and even transcendence. “Workism,” Stolzoff tells us, is almost a new American religion and its ranks are growing in the white-collar world.?

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with liking, or even truly relishing, what you do. But when your professional identity begins to eclipse your other roles —?as a friend, aunt, brother, neighbor, or anything else —?Stolzoff thinks it may be time to turn off your Slack notifications, rise out of your ergonomic chair, and step outside to let your mind wander beyond that next deadline.?

In this edition of Wake-Up Call at Work, we’re tackling the always-thorny issue of work-life balance. We’ll hear from Stolzoff, who makes the compelling case for radically rethinking your relationship to your gig, and other experts who’ve got great advice on how to be productive in your profession — without sacrificing what makes you truly human.?

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Off the Clock

Here’s some concerning news from across the pond: In the 70s, Americans worked about as much per week as the average German or Frenchman. Now, compared to our European peers, we’re putting in a lot more time at the office. We spoke to Stolzoff about what’s behind this trend, how certain jobs are engineered to trap us in the rat race,?and how to break free.

So Little Time

Most productivity books offer tips on optimizing your mornings or more efficiently answering emails, but Oliver Burkeman takes an entirely different approach. In his book Four Thousand Weeks, he encourages us to slow down and think critically about what exactly we want to accomplish in our 4,000 weeks (the lifespan of the average American) and use that to guide our approaches to time management. He shares why Inbox Zero is way overrated, and why you may be feeling more crunched for time than ever .?

Battling Burnout

Feeling drained? You’re in good company. Searches for “Burnout” and “stress management” soared during the pandemic, according to Think with Google. Their team took a deep dive into the fascinating ways workers are looking to decompress and reorient their priorities, and how companies are supporting them.?

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