How Do We View Work?

"Workin' nine to five, what a way to make a livin'" - Dolly Parton

What is a Workview?

In the book Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life by Dave Evans and Bill Burnett, the concept of a Workview and Lifeview are introduced. These views intend to help the reader actively consider where one stands on how they should be treating their work and personal life.  To help orient one’s life, they recommend sitting down and spending some time actively considering your views on work and life to take stock on how actively you’re meeting those standards in your current life.

Questions to Consider

I thought I would spend some time in this post considering my Workview. All the thoughts below relate to how I grapple with the idea of work; everyone’s ideas on work will differ. To help me with this process, I’m going to include some of the guiding questions provided by the authors:

Why work?

What’s work for?

What does work mean?

How does it relate to the individual, others, society?

What defines good or worthwhile work?

What does money have to do with it?

What do experience, growth, and fulfillment have to do with?

What is my Workview?

Work is something that takes up most of our adult lives. If anything, work keeps us busy during “business hours.” As much as I think I’d want to spend all day with nothing to do except for watching movies, playing video games, and hanging around, not working would not be good for me in the long run. I enjoy habit, routine, and having something like work to center my day around is good. I enjoy work that stimulates my mind. Work is for focusing effort during the day to develop yourself and others, while making money to live a sustainable life. That is a working definition of – well – work for me. 

I do believe work should mean something. I think that I’m the type of person who needs to tie myself to meaningful work. The more I care about and can align with the job, the happier I’ll be in said job. I want to do something I find meaningful that likely contributes to others around me. I’m not sure I need to change the larger world around me as part of the day-to-day functions of my work, but I want to have a positive impact on my direct community, whatever that may look like. 

What defines that work being worthwhile is trickier. I’m not sure I have as good a grasp on what that looks like currently. On a micro scale, I want to make the lives of people I interact with frequently better to whatever extant I can. I enjoy making people laugh and smile. Zooming out, I want to believe in the mission of the company. I shouldn’t go looking for an employer who makes money stealing candy from babies.

Money is also another critical piece. I do think it’s important – at least to myself – to make good money. I want to be able to provide for my family and have the means to travel and learn and continue developing myself. I think of money as almost a consequence of the job, though. When I consider what I want to do, I think that the money will come once you find that job about which I’m passionate. Maybe this is a poor way of thinking, but at least in my current position, the money is important yet secondary. 

 Finally, I want to continue to grow and experience new things. Throughout this post, I’ve mentioned wanting to continue to develop myself. I believe that stagnation for too long is a bad thing for me. I enjoy reading new books, consuming new stories, and learning new topics. I want the job I do daily to reflect that. I want to be challenged. I want to look at problems in new ways to find solutions. 

In Conclusion

Putting these thoughts together has helped me solidify my stance on work. It’s also helped me recognize some areas where I might need to develop a firmer stance, such as with money. I intend to revisit this practice – the authors recommend as much – as well as taking the time to jot down my thoughts on a Lifeview.