How About the Working to Live Option?

It was right before I moved to Madrid that I heard the statement, "Americans live to work; the Spanish work to live." Since then, I've heard "the Spanish" replaced by "the French" or "the Europeans" or "the Mexicans", pretty much all people of any country outside of my own.

As I get older, I've realized a 40 hour work week is really not my idea of a fun time. I dare say it's unhealthy for a whole lot of people. And don't even get me started on overtime. My last professional, full-time job left me clocking at least 45 hours a week. I realize that this is normal for a lot of Americans but I hated that for almost ten hours a day (don't forget the commute!), I was away from my home, my family, my friends, my hobbies, pretty much everything that made me feel happy and alive. So I vowed never to do it again. Nothing above 35 hours, I told myself. Now, I must admit that 25 seems like a fine number.

I'm not lazy. Anyone who knows me will concur. I just believe that most Americans spend a ridiculous amount of waking hours working. And I don't think I'm going out on a limb when I say that most of this work is unfulfilling, joyless, perhaps even soul killing stuff. My God, what kind of life is this? Let me tell you. It's a very tired, cranky one where all sorts of relationships suffer, where partners feel unappreciated, parents feel guilty, kids are longing, and singletons feel pressure to work even longer hours because, well, "they don't have families to go home to". (Umm, right.)

On top of this, as this awesome article points out, the busier we are, the more we rely on services like tailoring and fast food when in actuality, we would probably feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment if we sewed that hem or cooked that sauce from scratch ourselves. In an age of butts attached to chairs and eyeballs glued to screens, is it really any mystery that more and more of us are craving time in gardens and kitchens and workshops? I believe that people do ache to be productive but what about a productivity derived from the creativity most of us don't get to use on the job?

Not only do we feel some sense of self-worth when sanding that table or potting that plant, we also might happen to feel (brace yourself) happy along the way. So what would happen if instead of the normal 40 hour work week, a person pulled a "mere" 30 hours in the office and then 5 caring for animals at the local shelter,and another 5 playing with family and friends? Call me crazy but I think some might call this balance. Too bad that American work culture seldom allows for it. Not only are there bills to pay but when jobs are already scarce, who's going to give their employer any reason to shop around? Forty (or so) hours it is.

It's a pity on so many levels, too. As Juliet Schor, the author of this article points out, not only does this kind of balance nourish our souls, it slows down the destruction of our planet. In general, the more people work, the messier lives they lead in many respects. Of course, you can certainly lead a very messy life without working a ton but something tells me that you and I are less likely to get take-out or pick a fight with someone if we walk through the door before 5pm.

I'm all about de-cluttering my life in every sense these days. Working less for me means less stuff which translates into less cleaning, less car maintenance, less dry cleaning, and maybe less vacations but also more book reading, more coffee dates, and more walks in the park on a crisp autumn day. More worthwhile time, more valuable experiences, and more treasured connections. I think I'm quite happy to make the trade.