Summer 2023
Gratitude: I’m paid well, I enjoy the process.
I imagine I get this degree because communication is a lost art in today’s society, and make videos.
(Fall 2015, college freshman)
What ends are you working for?
It’s part of, not entirely, who I am.
I’m in it, I’m not of it.
Extremes: Laid off, furloughed
Skills give you more options (leverage)
Perceived righteousness: teachers, healthcare workers, non-profit sector, any job with social mission, writers, academia
(Doing God’s work and beyond critique, passion for your work — low pay, the brand hides exploitation & malpractice)
Workism- A lot of college educated Americans work for paycheck, community, purpose, and transcendent meaning.
There are other aspects of our lives; outside work, and producing economic returns for corporations.
A year in, working full-time, supporting university.
Cut your annual salary cut in half.
22% of each paycheck goes to taxes.
Net 78% of your total gross income.
Part of your paycheck goes to retirement, health insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance etc.
Culture trickles down from the top, being clear on expectations, what is the contract we’re entering into?
Hiring enough people to do the work, delegate the work to other people who work there.
Attached job to meaning — help us get by
Skills give us more options (leverage)
Quiet Quitting, Good enough job (subjective; certain salary, title, industry, family time), Overload
Diverse sources of meaning and identity
1. Do things other than work, actively invest in relationships, community, interests, and hobbies.
Self-awareness, self-reflection at 27
Tactical:
Cheaper:
Effort:
Deep procrastination — unable to work up the motivation to do work that needs to be done.
Dopamine sick — brain frazzled with constant targeted distraction at the slightest hint of boredom, delivered through screen, that you’re unable to work up the proper motivation to do something that’s longer form, deeper, and more complicated.
Reduce the hardness: time block plans
Simplifying obligations: workload manageable
Target professional life: work for my dreams
“If no one can benefit from anything you have, how valuable are you to other people?” — Kevin Samuels
