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I suspect many people's exhaustion may come from the suppressed awareness that the work on which they're spending so much time and energy is ultimately futile,

I suspect many people's exhaustion may come from the suppressed awareness that the work on which they're spending so much time and energy is ultimately futile, ephemeral, and perhaps even harmful. I felt the same way some years ago and decided to completely change my life to focus on family time and work that provides a sense of real accomplishment. I'm a few steps lower on the social ladder, I suppose, but my life is so much better that I truly don't give a shit about that. Getting to the point where I was willing to change required going several layers deeper than I had gone before, though, and there were some very painful realizations along the way. Just a mild warning for anyone who might want to do the same thing. P.S. I truly enjoy weekends now. I previously felt much the same way about them as the author.

quickthrower2 8y ago
Do you mind sharing your before and after job role?
- sverige 8y ago
  To avoid the risk of seeming to be prescriptive, I'll just say that I had a reasonably sound resume with mostly middle management experience in litigation, insurance, telephone technology, and operations. (Those fields seem unrelated even to me when summarized, but there was a logical progression.) I am now working my dream job, which is solidly blue collar. It pays well enough, I still use my mind, and it is mostly not dull or repetitive. (I've worked a few of those, too, both white and blue collar.) There are a lot more of those kinds of blue collar jobs than many middle management types realize. Most of my old coworkers are long gone from my social circle, but in retrospect, that always happened when I went from one company to the next anyway.