Damn you '9 to 5' jobs!
and the art of coping with it.
Let’s be honest, do you ever wake up in the morning, get ready, eat your breakfast and be like “I’m so excited about this job”?
Just so we’re on the same page, I mean to ask you the question only if you’re done with the “honeymoon period”1 of your job.
But before you answer this question, I have another question — who came up with the ‘9 to 5’ concept? How did this evolve over time?
The evolution of ‘9 to 5’
As industrialization grew in the 1800s, the factories demanded laborers to work for nearly 18 hours a day! The 40-hour per week scheme was indeed a blessing to them when it was introduced. But like all the developments that took place throughout the history, the ‘9 to 5’ workday scheme had its own challenges.
Robert Owens, founder of the utopian socialism and a textile manufacturer, was the first to come up with the 8-hour workday scheme in the year 1810 but this law was only passed in the year 1847 by the British government (although it was once rejected in the year 1817).
Here’s the catch though, the law was only applicable to women and children at first as politicians alongside factory owners decided that this wouldn’t affect their profits anyway. Only by the late 19th century, men were subject to this scheme — “8 hours of work, 8 hours of recreation, 8 hours of sleep “.
During the early 20th century, President Franklin D. Roosevelt came up with the concept of ‘minimum wage’ which was again opposed by many business owners stating it’d bring them huge losses, but Henry Ford’s initiative to introduce this 8-hour scheme and double his worker’s wage proved them wrong, as it resulted in a huge productivity and profit surge for Ford motors.
Ford explained, "It is high time to rid ourselves of the notion that leisure for workmen is either 'lost time' or a class privilege."
Throughout the 20th century, there were many changes that took place with organizational structures, job roles, introduction of new departments, vertical promotions, shift to a more-cozy hectic workday scheme as tech revolutionized the market and many more '“high-demanding, high-pay” jobs were introduced.
But when the economy of a country crashes, every job market suffers a lot and people are/were indeed forced to take up two or three jobs to just survive. This adversity was met with fast-food many companies cutting down on per-hour pay with zero overtime compensation, only adding to the fire screaming — “fuck this”.
Then COVID hit…
Now, employees were asked to stay-at-home and work with whatever resources possible. This was indeed a blessing in disguise to the workers (Saving travel expenses, work at own pace, etc.)
In fact, this has only led to employees demanding “I either work-from-home, or I leave”, post COVID-19 leading to huge losses to companies in terms of productivity2 and profits. Some CEOs of the big tech organizations went as far as firing a few employees and produced a deadline to ‘return to office’ for the rest!
Anyway, TLDR: most of them did fall in line, and have actually started appreciating the in-office work life!
We all need human companions when we do something we aren’t generally fond of, right?
The conundrum - Survival or Satisfaction?
Under the most ideal conditions, a kid raised with love is intended to educate, learn, explore, and find his/her purpose in life. This is fancy wording for the cycle of life — birth, educate, work, survive, death.
I know that all of this sounds a bit exaggerated but after the introduction of social media and concept of “insta-influencers” around the year 2017 and afterwards, the Gen-Z really got into it. Many actively started hating on regular ‘9 to 5’ jobs and actually wanted to live life on their own terms with financial cushions provided by their parents. It became all about fame. Success was redefined in terms of *likes*.
I don’t have anything against them but is it really worth hating something that you know nothing of?
A generation where everyone wants to opt out of ‘9 to 5’ and be an overnight famous millionaire is a generation equivalent to what you call, a fool. It is only hard work and drive that’ll get you so far, I was hoping they’d realize that by now. But guess what?
In a generation where most of them want to be “insta-famous”, is it really their fault or were they influenced to think that way? Who’s to blame — their upbringing or situation or surroundings?
Essentially the idea developed by this generation sums up to — “if you don’t do what you want or like, you’re bound to lose your dreams and succumb to a regretful life”. I don’t completely agree with this.
Sometimes, you need to consider the fact that not everyone gets everything in life on their own terms. I’m sure some of your friends or colleagues maybe extremely successful but that does not contribute to you as a failure. Maybe it’ll take you a bit longer, but you’ll still get there.
However, I’m glad most of them have learnt that ‘9 to 5’ isn’t a sign of failure but a necessity for survival while pursuing one’s own interests. Some have obviously learnt this the hard way. I now know why the older generation have shown more satisfaction with their jobs, maybe they hold the secret to a content life being nothing more than prioritizing dreams, family and work.
Nonetheless, there still lie a few who are never content with their work or life in general. I’d like to mention an instance to justify this —
During my days in college, I was fond of the way one of my professors used to teach but my views were immediately changed when he encouraged us to not choose the teaching profession ever. When I asked him the reason behind it, he responded with — “Just because I’m good at something doesn’t mean I love it.”
Now this statement stuck with me for a while. I was not able to digest the fact that he didn’t like what he did. How could someone fake it all this time? It was only later I realized that he wasn’t given the recognition he wanted or deserved, which only added to his frustration. Suddenly, Stanley Hudson from the TV show ‘The office’ and Ron from the TV show ‘Parks and Recreation’ started to make more sense.
What if I’m always discontent with who I’ve become? Maybe old age will teach me that other things matter more in life when you become aware of the fact that none of the moments in your life are going to come back. They’re now, reveries.
Is that why we idolize people who dedicate their life to something more important at such a scale that they become completely oblivious of their surroundings? Maybe that’s “greatness” for you. I don’t know.
While I understand the need for recognition, I’d choose the calculated sensible way. I believe the wisdom here would be to prioritize work in the morning and fund your dreams in the evening. This is indeed the smartest way to survive and be content at the same time.
Perhaps, somewhere in between, only a few are truly interested in what they do whereas others just pursue something uninteresting to bring their interests to reality. In time, all our interests align.
Thanks for reading!
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I’d like to acknowledge a few writers whose works I’ve come across, helping me gain a deeper understanding of the topic being discussed.
The article “Loser” written by
helped me gain a certain depth and reflection on what it feels like to recover and heal, to come in terms with your life, to stop giving a damn about what people think of you and focus more on the invisible success as she mentions.“Am I really the one I’ve been looking for?” written by
helped me understand the need for authenticity in one’s character and the choices made thereon.“Digesting Life: Self-Talk, Awareness & Celebrating Ourselves written by
helped me understand the need to take a step back and reassess one’s perspective.
Check out “Hubslife” on YouTube to get the grasp of it —
During this period, one is excited to discover about their role, the benefits and perks associated, and the people surrounding them, in their new workplace.
Figure depicting the “Growth in GDP per hour worked over time”
Source: OECD Productivity Statistics database and APO (Asia-Pacific Productivity Organization) Productivity Databook 2022 (forthcoming), October 2022
Insightful and interesting read, Rhithik. Good one.
Interesting read, thanks for sharing :)