Why We Still Work So Hard — And How to Break Free

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Why We Still Work So Hard — And How Financial Independence Can Set Us Free

Designing a Life Worth Living Through Financial Independence

In this blog we advocate for pursuing financial independence (FI). But we don’t recommend embarking on this journey as a form of escapism, but as a way to design a life worth living. Pursuing FI can represent a tool to regain the freedom and breathing room that is required in order to redesign and realign our life towards meaning and contentment.

In a previous post I shared my story of how I recently quit my 9-to-5 job in consulting. I was experiencing burnout symptoms for a long time and began to question more deeply how I’d reached this situation. I am aware that my situation is far from uncommon and that so many of us struggle in stressful or, at the very least, unfulfilling careers. This wouldn’t be a problem if our jobs represented only a tinny fraction of our day, or if we were able to compartmentalize our work and not think about it during our free time. Unfortunately, for many types of jobs, work stress spills into personal time and impacts well-being

Why do we still work long hours and experience high stress, despite the massive productivity gains enabled by modern technology over the last century? Shouldn’t the goal of all these technological improvements be to make our lives easier, so that we may toil less and have more time to enjoy a meaningful live?

In today’s post, we are going to delve deeper into these questions and provide some answers as to why we continue to work 40+ hours per week. What can we do about it and how can the pursuit of financial independence enable us to remedy this situation?

The Modern Work Crisis: Why So Many Jobs Feel Meaningless

But first, it is useful to remind ourselves of where we’re currently heading. In a previous post, we examined Gallup’s global data on employee engagement to better understand how employees feel about their job and the work they do. Unsurprisingly, the results painted a very dire picture.

Modern workers report feeling disengaged and unfulfilled in their jobs. Although we spend an average of 80,000 hours working over a lifetime, many people find their jobs lack purpose and personal fulfillment. 59% of employees reported feeling disengaged at work, which essentially means they are filling a seat and watching the clock. These workers lack passion for their work and feel psychologically disconnected from their organization. According to the underlying report, these employees don’t take ownership of their work and are more likely to feel stressed and to experience burnout.

18% of the global workforce reported being actively disengaged. This is a step further than the colleagues reporting feeling disengaged; this group of employees are taking actions that directly harm the organization. In contrast, the Gallup polling found that only 23% of the global workforce reports feeling engaged.

Similarly, stress is also on the rise, with nearly half (44%) of global employees reported experiencing substantial stress in their workplace.

Many employers recognize the impact of employee disengagement and have tried to improve job satisfaction and workplace wellness, because disengaged workers hamper their organization’s productivity. Indeed, the Gallup report estimated the opportunity cost to the global economy of low engagement at a staggering 8.8 trillion USD or about 9% of global GDP.

I would question, though, whether this issue would be solved by small tweaks in working conditions, or whether a larger cause of our dissatisfaction arises with the systemiq nature of the job themselves. Indeed, it may be that the proliferation of “bullshit jobs”, as famously coined by David Graeber, may be one of the reasons explaining why 77% of global employees are dissatisfied with their job. We must ask ourselves whether our work creates real value and contributes to personal and societal well-being, or whether we are we simply occupying roles created by a system that is focused on maximizing employment–regardless of the purpose or impact of the job?

If today’s jobs are generally making us feel miserable, or, at least, stressed and unfulfilled. Why are we doing this to ourselves?

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Why Aren’t We Working Less in the Age of Unprecedented Productivity?

In a previous post, we examined the question of why humans continue to work so hard, despite the gigantic economic and technological progress we’ve experienced as a species over time, especially during the last century. Indeed, John Maynard Keynes predicted in 1930 that rising productivity would reduce the workweek to 15 hours, yet this hasn't materialized. What a world that would be!

What went wrong, then? The 15-hour prediction feels like someone is poking fun at us, right? Despite having more than surpassed Keynes' economic growth projections, it’s clear that we haven’t been able to translate these productivity improvements into more leisure and a more relaxed pace of work.

It doesn’t feel like we are seriously trying to change this either. Conventional political discourse tends to highlight and focus on pursuing economic growth and employment creation. Not only this, but, at least in developed countries, younger generations are expected to work longer than before to sustain aging populations. Denmark announced this week plans to raise its retirement age to 70 by 2040, highlighting global trends in longer working lives. Of course, this is not an exception and other countries will soon follow suite.

James Suzman’s book ‘Work: A History of How We Spend Our Time’ explores six reasons we still work excessively despite technological and economic progress. Below, I examine some of these most plausible causes.

Status vs Freedom: How Social Comparison Traps Us in Overwork

Status is one of the persistent reasons we continue to work so hard. We live in a world where social media is constantly flashing curated images of success, and it’s difficult to disengage from making unhealthy comparisons. Today, people equate professional success and working long hours with prestige and self-worth. This trend is, of course, very detrimental to us collectively, given that a large share of jobs out there are not making us happy (in the best of cases) or downright making us miserable.

In previous posts, I argued for choosing freedom over status. Unfortunately for those playing it, the status game isn’t one you can easily win, and, even if you do, that bad news is that it is unlikely to bring you fulfillment and lasting peace of mind. We often pursue job titles, luxury homes, and expensive vacations because they signal accomplishment to others, rather than for genuine happiness or life satisfaction. Unfortunately, in the status game the goal post just keeps moving, and status players will find it difficult to escape from feelings of anxiety, since they will always find someone doing more, earning more, owning more.

While status is fleeting and depends on the perception of others, freedom is not. Financial independence provides us the opportunity to step off the status treadmill and to reshape our lives so they are rooted in the pursuit of tranquility and purpose. Many philosophical traditions, such as Stoicism or Buddhism, offer helpful antidotes here: we should try to shift our focus and goals from external validation – which is outside of our control – to internal contentment.

Photo by Bradley Pisney on Unsplash.

Consumerism, Hedonic Adaptation, and the True Cost of Our Work Culture

Our modern economies are built on consumption, and this in turn is powered by work. But does it make us any happier?

Unfortunately, humans adapt very quickly to new comforts, and what once felt like a luxury now feels like the new normal. This well known phenomenon is hedonic adaptation. One could argue that throughout different moments of our history, this trait has helped humans move forward–not being content with their lot was a good thing, since it made them strive to improve their condition. However, in today’s world of abundance, being unaware of how hedonic adaptation works can contribute to making us miserable.

There are other hidden costs too. Our overworking is not only driving personal burnout but also a planetary crisis in the form of rising greenhouse gas emissions, plastic pollution, and unprecedented rates of biodiversity loss. At the same time, our mental health is increasingly under pressure. The more options we have, the more anxious we feel. FOMO and our comparison culture, together with the algorithm-driven dopamine hits we are exposed to are contributing to create an epidemic of anxiety and depression.

As I explore in my post of Vicky Robin’s must-read Your Money or Your Life, we should ask ourselves whether we are trading our life-energy for things that truly matter. Remember, on average you will have to work for about 80,000 hours of your life.

Again, adopting a clear and coherent philosophy of life can help here. I am not familiar with all posible philosophies of life or the one that may be best suited to each individual’s personal temperament, but just trying to have a philosophy of life at all can already make a huge difference. Practicing gratitude and trying to want what you already have, as emphasized by Stoics and Buddhists, can be a powerful antidote to our always wanting more mindset. Also, as I covered previously, embracing a sustainable lifestyle can support long-term wealth building and reduce financial stress.

Work and Identity: A Historical Perspective on How Much We Work

Work hasn’t always defined how we see ourselves. As explored in a previous post, one of the key findings from James Suzman’s book on work was that, for over 95% of human history, work didn’t define our identity the way it does now. Hunter-gatherers are thought to have typically “worked” only around 15-20 hours per week to meet their needs, while the rest of the time was spent in community, storytelling, and at play. It has only been in the last centuries where labor has become such a central part of life.

This should give us some perspective. It reminds us that our current situation is not inevitable, or that it’s just in our nature to act in this way. We are not lazy or somehow broken for wanting more leisure, we are simply being human. Work can certainly provide a source of meaning, but not any work, and certainly not too much of it.

Photo by Kampus Production on Pexels.

Income Inequality: A Barrier to Financial Independence, Not the End of the Road

I don’t want to forget about mentioning the important role that inequality plays here too. On the one hand, inequality is highlighted as one of the 6 reasons partially explaining today’s dilema of why we continue to work so hard despite our species’ collective success. There is evidence that the output of the recorded increase in productivity has not been evenly distributed across society.

Also, from the perspective of pursuing financial independence, many individuals start out at a clear disadvantage. Many don’t have the possibility to implement a high savings rate from already low wages, let alone the option of consuming less in order to save more or work part time. I am aware that this equation doesn’t work for everyone, particularly in countries where wages are stagnant and costs are rising.

Still, even as individuals lacking the power to enable meaningful changes, we should still try to see this as a structural challenge, not a life sentence. Even small optimizations of our consumption can compound over time to make a huge difference.

Are We Happier Now? How FI Helps Reclaim Time, Purpose, and Joy

Despite all the technological progress, what do we have to show for our overwork if we agree that we are not becoming happier?

Yes, we have more things, but do we feel better and lead better lives? We have managed incredible technological accomplishments, yet we still have the feeling that we are busier than ever. We have more options, yes, but also experience more anxiety. Our lives have become more convenient in many ways, but we lack meaning and fulfillment. We have become increasingly disconnected from nature, community, and from our own creativity.

Pursuing financial independence is not going to solve this. Deep soul searching and engaging in philosophy might. Financial independence can be a powerful tool that provides you with the ability to redefine your life in a way that is more aligned with your values and with finding meaning and contentment. It will also free you from the necessity of feeling disengaged, unfulfilled, or miserable in your 80,000-hour career.

By spending less and saving more intentionally, we are buying ourselves freedom, one step at a time. The ability to work part-time or seasonally; to say no to toxic jobs; to engage in art, science, sports, travel, or philosophy; and to prioritize or relationships. Working less could mean more time for your family, creativity, learning, rest, and self-discovery. The potential to design a more sustainable, joyful, and intentional life.

Imagine a Life Where Work Doesn’t Define You — What Would You Do?

What do you think? Did I miss any key factor explaining why we continue to work so hard, despite our progress as a species? Have you considered working less to design a more fullfiling lifestlyle? Please share with us in the comments below!

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