Career
by Simone Stolzoff
What if a job were just a job?
Simone Stolzoff noticed how many people expect their job to give them an identity, friends and a purpose, on top of a salary. The Good Enough Job asks what happens when work becomes the centre of a life, and what a healthier relationship with it might look like.
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Stolzoff builds on a word coined by the journalist Derek Thompson. Workism is the belief that work sits at the centre of who you are and what your life is for. For many people it has taken the place that religion and local community used to hold.
If your job is your whole identity, losing it takes you with it, and every job ends sooner or later through redundancy, illness or retirement. Stolzoff argues for spreading who you are across several parts of life, so no single loss can wipe you out.
Companies that call their staff a family still make people redundant when the numbers demand it. Stolzoff wants workers to see a job for what it is, an exchange of work for money. Save your deepest loyalty for the people who'll still be around when the job ends.
We tend to defend time off as a way to come back sharper. Stolzoff pushes back on that. Rest, play and time with people you love are much of what life is for, and they don't have to earn their place by making you more productive.
Workism
Many of us treat work like a religion. The writer Derek Thompson called this workism.
Identity
When your job is your whole identity, a bad day at work becomes a bad day as a person.
Spread yourself
Spread your sense of self beyond work, the way you'd spread savings across different investments.
Not a family
A company that calls itself a family can still let you go. Be clear about the deal.
Rest
Rest is worth having for its own sake, and not only so you can work harder tomorrow.
Hot take · true or myth?
Tying your identity to your job makes you more fragile.
True. If work is all you are, a redundancy or retirement takes everything at once. Stolzoff argues for spreading your identity across several parts of life.
One thing to try
Tonight, try telling someone about yourself for a minute without mentioning your job. Notice what's left, and how much of it you've had time for lately. If the list feels thin, book one hour this week for something with no connection to work.
Knotd has the key ideas from 250+ non-fiction books, each in a few minutes, in plain words. The Good Enough Job comes with a Hot Take round to make it stick.
Get the whole book on KnotdOpen in the appWhat if a job were just a job? Simone Stolzoff noticed how many people expect their job to give them an identity, friends and a purpose, on top of a salary. The Good Enough Job asks what happens when work becomes the centre of a life, and what a healthier relationship with it might look like.
Workism; One basket is fragile; Your employer isn't family; Rest needs no excuse.
Tonight, try telling someone about yourself for a minute without mentioning your job. Notice what's left, and how much of it you've had time for lately. If the list feels thin, book one hour this week for something with no connection to work.
Yes. Knotd has the key ideas from The Good Enough Job in a few minutes, in plain words, plus a Hot Take round to test them. It's one of 250+ non-fiction books in the app.
