TreatThompson OP t1_j69npvl wrote on January 28, 2023 at 7:21 PM

There’s two other points I think of related to this

Henry Thoreau makes a good point saying most people are active participants in life enough to do physical labor, less are active participants enough to exert themselves intellectually, and very few live actively enough to have a remarkable life.

Maria Popova said something similar adding:

"But in our age of productivity, we spend our days running away from boredom, never mind its creative and spiritual benefits, and toward maximum efficiency."

ignorantpeasant1 t1_j6a09ct wrote on January 28, 2023 at 8:48 PM

Thoreau was a self righteous deadbeat who lived on his friend’s land, 20 minutes walk from his childhood home and would get his mother to do his washing. He has a way with words, but not someone whose opinions I’d take seriously.

Regarding your question, the boring answer is that like most things, balance is required.

Becoming a mindless drone who optimises for productivity isn’t a good life. Neither is constantly living a life of leisure, which typically has long term consequences.

As a personal anecdote, I find “balance” by being acutely aware of if I’m in a “work” phase or a “living” phase of my life/career, etc and it has worked very well for me.

I find 6-9 months about right before I reassess.