In his ‘debutant’ book The Good Enough Job: Reclaiming Life from Work (Portfolio, May 2023) Simone Stolzoff suggested that instead of the standard American conversation starter ‘What do you do?‘ we should ask ‘What do you like to do?’
It could change the tenor of the conversation we have, whether we are the one asking the question or the person answering it.
I would not say that my work defines me.
Over 5 decades it has morphed from record store owner to front of the house restaurant work followed by years as a personal assistant and since mid-2021 mostly being the eyes and ears of a client on large construction sites.
What work has mostly done to me is it has sucked an unfathomable number of hours from my days and weeks and months and years.
For long stretches, work has left little time for anything else except sleep and meals.
A heart attack in January 2023 reshuffled the deck.
Since spring 2024, I have reduced my work schedule significantly and adopted as my motto Spend more time doing less which also is the spirit for Mediterranean Work and Play, my latest project.
If we were meeting and you asked me ‘What do you like to do?’, I would answer reading, first. Discovering new music, second. Watching the time go by, third.
At work you are useful (or used) until you’re not.
Watching the time go by for Monday Work Etiquette # 161
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