Work Less
In grad school I had a professor who received her PHD in “Leisure Studies.” I was fascinated by her. I did not even realize that “Leisure Studies” was something you could, well… study. I guess I had just assumed leisure was something to be avoided, not cultivated. The goal was to work as long and hard as possible in order to earn as much money or prestige as possible, right? Wrong. Leisure, it turns out, is very important to our happiness, our health, and most surprisingly, our productivity.
Since my school days I have gotten behind the idea of working less, but accomplishing more, which is why I completely agree with this article on Co.Exist: The Case For A 21-Hour Work Week. The proposal to change our society’s perception of what constitutes full-time work may be controversial, but the New Economics Foundation argues that working less could actually increase quality of life world wide.
Since I am also a self-described “free form” worker – I can’t comply with strict schedules — I also like this article about letting employees work when they want to: Bosses, Stop Caring If Your Employees Are At Their Desks. Of course, free form work schedules will not work in every industry (like retail, teaching, shipping, etc) but I like the idea of moving toward results-based work, instead of just time-based schedules.
