Why Do We Work So Much?

How to structure employment so workers are more creative, productive, and happier.

Topics include:

• What percentage of employees work at home due to the pandemic
• How many hours per week do men and women work in both paid employment and unpaid caregiving
• How workers have been allocating the time saved by not commuting
• Why the economy would still prosper if we worked only four hours per day
• What is the cult of efficiency
• What is the difference between leisure and amusement
• Why employers reward busyness at work
• How work can be more satisfying and create

Thanks to LinkedIn and Policygenius for sponsoring the episode.

Show Notes

60 million fewer commuting hours per day: How Americans use time saved by working from home by Jose Maria Barrero, Nick Bloom and Steven J. Davis

Mental health: C-suite struggles in the pandemic by Rachel Ranosa—Human Resources Director

Deep Work (Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World) by Cal Newport

In Praise of Idleness by Bertrand Russell—Harper's Magazine

Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving by Celeste Headlee

Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle translated by Robert C. Bartlett and Susan D. Collins

Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang

The Art of the Siesta by Thierry Paquot

When More Is Not Better: Overcoming America's Obsession with Economic Efficiency by Roger L. Martin