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What if work is leisure? Jack Welch used to mention that he couldn't wait to get back to office in weekends. I personally feel that large part of my work is rea

What if work is leisure? Jack Welch used to mention that he couldn't wait to get back to office in weekends. I personally feel that large part of my work is really leisure: researching new algorithms, building POCs, writing whitepapers and narratives, having brainstorming meetings, and etc. I don't think I can get such meaningful activities outside of work, either. That's because the work gives real use cases that demand scale and efficiency, which drives my projects. To me, an activity is leisure if I want to do it and I have freedom to decide how to spend time.

pessimizer 5y ago
If work were leisure, you'd have to pay to do it, you wouldn't get paid to do it.
emodendroket 5y ago
Even granting your point, many people work jobs which are tedious and/or physically tiring.
varjag 5y ago
Ownership of agenda is what underlines leisure, i.e. you're not doing something because you have to. Like sure, you may need to persist through an amateur chess tournament but it's something you were willing to expose yourself to. With jobs there's really not that much leeway. You do things to make your boss and/or clients happy and ultimately your way of living depends on it. Sure it's possible to allocate time for fun activities at employer dime. However if they are too fun for everyone they are often referred as 'perks', highlighting that it's really a soft packaged form of compensation.
orthoxerox 5y ago
> I personally feel that large part of my work is really leisure You're (we're) in a privileged position. Most jobs are drudgery: data entry specialists, cashiers, warehouse workers, assembly line workers, shop assistants. To them, every day at work is the same, and something different happening is a sign of things going wrong.
- hintymad 5y ago
  Very true. Working in tech industry is an incredible privilege that I cherish and am amazed at. It's also why it pains me to see the K12 education system in the US has failed so many students who could have learned enough and been inspired enough to get into STEM fields.

pessimizer 5y ago

If work were leisure, you'd have to pay to do it, you wouldn't get paid to do it.

emodendroket 5y ago

Even granting your point, many people work jobs which are tedious and/or physically tiring.

varjag 5y ago

Ownership of agenda is what underlines leisure, i.e. you're not doing something because you have to. Like sure, you may need to persist through an amateur chess tournament but it's something you were willing to expose yourself to. With jobs there's really not that much leeway. You do things to make your boss and/or clients happy and ultimately your way of living depends on it. Sure it's possible to allocate time for fun activities at employer dime. However if they are too fun for everyone they are often referred as 'perks', highlighting that it's really a soft packaged form of compensation.

orthoxerox 5y ago

> I personally feel that large part of my work is really leisure You're (we're) in a privileged position. Most jobs are drudgery: data entry specialists, cashiers, warehouse workers, assembly line workers, shop assistants. To them, every day at work is the same, and something different happening is a sign of things going wrong.

hintymad 5y ago
Very true. Working in tech industry is an incredible privilege that I cherish and am amazed at. It's also why it pains me to see the K12 education system in the US has failed so many students who could have learned enough and been inspired enough to get into STEM fields.