FC NOW: The Fast Company Weblog
June 28, 2005
How to Be Idle?
There's a new and curious book on work--or more specifically non-work--that was reviewed in The New York Times Book Review this past Sunday: "How to be Idle" by Tom Hodgkinson, founder of a British magazine called The Idler. Hodgkinson's view is that the chief problem with modern life is not work itself. It is jobs.
Now that's a counter-intuitive idea for us at Fast Company. We think work gives meaning to life and is a reflection of one's true self. Or at least that's the promise and expectation of what a meaningful job and a career provides a person. Hodgkinson puts it very differently:
"With a very few exceptions the world of jobs is characterized by stifling boredom, grinding tedium, poverty, petty jealousies, sexual harassment, loneliness, deranged co-workers, bullying bosses, seething resentment, illness, exploitation, stress, helplessness, hellish commutes, humiliation, depression, appalling ethics, physical fatigue and mental exhaustion."
Hodgkinson's solution: Become an idler. Now all of us, at one time or another, sufferred through a bad boss, a tough work situation, even a job you wished you had never taken. But imagine living a life with no expectation of meaningful work, with no enjoyment or personal growth from the one thing you spend so much time on?
Can anyone truly be happy as an idler?
Posted by Editor in Chief at June 28, 2005 10:58 PM | Category: work-life balance |
6 Comments
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In a word, YES.
It all depends on the definition of IDLER. It's not the same as being a bum, or a teenager sleeping away the summer. It's a way of disconnecting from the way other people define what YOUR work is.
Too many people spend their life working at something they hate, just to make a living that they don't have time to live the living they're working for.
If you poke around on the idler web site (and I want to thank you - I didn't know about Tom or his postings before) you'll find many of the people they talk about really are quite prolific and involved in accomplishment - just on their own terms.
In my work as a business coach, I find even people who work for themselves caught up in doing work they hate, not because they have a terrible boss, but because they've not known how to organize things so the work they do is more satisfying and productive.
When my kids were in a Montessori pre-school we were told not to call what they did "play" but refer to it as their work. Even though it was puzzles and drawing, it was how they learned and grew. Why should kids have all the fun? Can't we earn our living in the spirit and enjoyment kids get from play?
I know that sounds a bit airy-fairy but it is more possible that most people realize. Perhaps the Idler can help us learn.
I'll choose to take Ezekiel 16:49 literally. Idleness is not a better route, but an excuse. If your job is causing all the problems that Mr. Hodgkinson speaks of, you need to find a different job, or possibly, career.
Two very inspiring articles by Marshall Goldsmith in the March and April issues of FC this year left me with a resolve to do something about my lackluster satisfaction with my current career. I would recommend them to anyone suffering from the delusion that idleness of any kind is a way to solve your work-related problems.
MAS
Over the summer I worked an internship for a company just outside of Boston. This company ran and operated with an Idler mentality.
This company was structured with friends and family of the original owners in the 1940's. This created animosity in the relationships of the entire staff. Everday communication between the group was great and at times over-joyous. Unfortunately, this was not the true emotions of the employees.
The majority of feelings were of animosity and distrust. These emotions were held back due to the strongs tie of family and friends.
Many have worked in the same job for 20 years and know they have little chance of promotion. The boss, the founders first born son, is also an Idler because he has never followed his own dreams.
With no business degrees in the upper management or the board of directors, this company of Idlers is unable to realize its own weaknesses. With, an employee force that never speaks up due to not caring or fear, this company has little chance of realizing how to stay afloat.
I'm an idler, a homemaker whose kids are in the upper grades at school, and it has been suggested that I go out and get a job. I'm having a hard time with it. I want a job, and yet by this wanting a job it means I'm worthless if I don't have one, and part of me is furious that I won't get any respect if I don't get a job. What is this world, one of worker ants? Well, who am I, if not a worker ant? I'd really like to know. So I'm an idler. Such shame!
How about reading the book before you write these ridiculous posts.