quote on "brain work"

[jenk]

[M]iddle managers are like the boys who painted Tom Sawyer's fence: They work overtime for free. One hallmark of modern "brain work" is that, while allowing casual clothes and more flexible schedules, it is also never, ever, really over. [...]

STATISTICALLY, AMERICANS are the most productive, richest and collectively unhappiest of the top six industrial nations, researchers contend. In an Internet essay called "Technology and the Work Ethic," author James Leth argued that the central dilemma for a corporate employee is this: "To have a good life, you must earn a good salary. To earn a good salary, you can't have a life."

There are alternatives. Besides having more than its share of billionaires, Seattle is also the place where authors such as Joe Dominguez, Vicki Robin and Cecille Andrews have penned books pointing out that acceptance of a lower standard of living can mean more freedom and less stress with no real decline in the quality of life. [...]

Ah, but it never seems simple. What about health benefits? Retirement? College tuition for the kids? Weddings that allegedly average $23,000 a pop? The health-club membership, the Hawaiian sun break, the Starbucks latte?

And for many of us, work isn't just about money. It gives us purpose. It's our social network. It provides structure. It instills pride. - magazine article on work