An unusual shortcut to happiness

Work.

In our fantasies, a world without work is one where we will finally start self-actualising. We will read a book a day, go for long walks, spend time with family, all while creating our masterpiece. Just like our imagination, I think we too, are being unreal. 

Without work to do, I think it is more likely that we will end up binge-watching trash, sleeping late, getting high, just spending our time doing stuff that, deep inside, we know is not helpful to us or others in any way. If you disagree, just think back to your last work-free weekend. You got 2 full days to yourself, how did you spend it? No, falling asleep in front of a screen or eating till you feel sick does not fall under rest or self-love, you know this too.

It’s a difficult thing to hear for most of us (including me) - Work is good for us.

Defining Work

Before we go any further, let me clarify that by work, I mean any act that requires effort - physical or mental - for reward that comes later. Which means that as far as this post is concerned, homemaking, exercising, concentrating at school or office, and even volunteering counts as work. Work can be interpersonal too, like resolving a conflict with your partner. Also fair to include resting without devices as work given how much of a genuine struggle it is nowadays.

I. Okay, back to why work is fantastic for us.

A. Work is inherently free of cheap dopamine

Cheap dopamine like the name suggests is easy pleasure. We usually get cheap dopamine from zero-effort activities e.g. mindless scrolling. The more cheap  dopamine you accumulate, the more low effort experiences you will seek out, which in turn will supply you with less pleasure but more desire; you can predict how this cycle will end - not well and often addictive. Gaining dopamine from work, on the other hand, gives you good dopamine, the kind that motivates you to do more work, gives you a sense of accomplishment and enables progress.

B. Work is critical to enjoy rest

There is a reason why we feel so terrible when we procrastinate. When we avoid work all day, neither do we make any progress on our goals nor do we enjoy our rest. At the end of such a day, we typically feel guilty and unmotivated. Work, on the other hand, demands rest because recovery is necessary for sustenance. The great part and big difference about rest that follows work is that you get to actually enjoy it.

C. Work increases quality of life and improves wellbeing

Whether we want it to be that way or not aside, our wellbeing is linked with our productivity. Work rewards us in direct ways such as the money or status that may come with our jobs, and/or indirect ways such as self-esteem and satisfaction (I know the current climate is very anti-work, I disagree and have previously written about why).

D. Work helps us grow

We get a little better every time we put in effort towards a goal. Even small amounts of progress compound over time to make for significant accomplishments. In contrast, when we avoid work, we force ourselves into a closed system which can be self-destructive.

II. Anju, but what about people who are stuck in miserable jobs working 16 hours a day? Are you calling that fantastic? Is that what you call bliss?!

No, that is of course horrible. But is worklessness going to make their life better? Worklessness (even when you have savings in the bank) is an equally miserable position to be in. At least here, they are trading work for some money and material benefits, no matter how meagre. And over time, they can move to doing some other, better-for-them work which they can both enjoy and make a living from. Maybe there are other pathways to get there too (I doubt if it is communism btw) but whiling our time away is certainly not going to get any of us anywhere. 

Now if you find yourself hating the idea of going into work everyday despite having a fancy investment-bank-type job with lots of perks, my recommendation is to find work that you love and make that your main job.  Even if you can’t make it your main source of income instantly, you can begin a side project and work towards eventually replacing your current job with it. 

I say this because having a voluntary frame of mind is essential to enjoy work, you need to approach work intending to enjoy the effort. The end of a work day can feel as good as completing a 5K run or finishing a great book, but only if you can learn to love what you do. If you have not yet figured out the kind of work that you love to do, now (regardless of how old you are) may be a good time to begin to find the answer to that question.

No matter what work you choose to do or how much you may love the idea of doing it, you will still have to put in effort to succeed, and that can feel tough. That is why you may have succumbed to Youtube’s algorithmic powers last weekend despite your best intentions. Resigning to Youtube is so much easier, always, isn’t it? But remember that effort is good for you, that is how you fill your brain and body with good dopamine, sustain motivation and achieve success. 

III. 

We often think of bliss as a work-bereft headspace. I heard an interview recently where an AI entrepreneur was talking about how AI is going to free millions of people from work and how that’s going to be so wonderful because people can finally do what they love. Firstly, I am highly skeptical of the ‘the post-AGI world will be a post-scarcity world’ argument. I also think that there will always be jobs for us to do, yes even with AI (I won’t get into why here, maybe in a future post). Secondly, if that ever happens, that is certainly nothing to look forward to! For the only way to avoid the eagle-like claws of procrastination (and subsequent unhappiness) is to immerse yourself in productive work. 

Taking work away from our plates rarely leads to more productivity. This may be why parents are so damn productive, it is not despite but often because of having children (disclaimer: this is not an endorsement for parenthood as a path to increased productivity regardless of what the evidence may point to). 

Even more generally speaking, so much happens in our lives that is just not in our control - a loved one getting cancer, countries going into war, dogs being mistreated, children being neglected, all kinds of awful stuff that should not be happening. At least, our goals in life and the work we need to put in towards achieving them is not as far beyond us. 

They say that there are no shortcuts to success or happiness. But happiness is always a few minutes of (focused) work away, and success follows those who work. How’s that now for a shortcut?