The view from here.

Alright, enough Debbie Downer for now. The new greatest thing is not to bitch about my issues, but find out a way to deal with them and even to make them (gasp!) pleasurable or at least learning experiences. After all...it's just work.

Modern American society tells us to value work and to constantly be wracking our brains about our jobs - even when the day is over. It's no wonder that our focus has turned from our family and community to our jobs. And why places like Google thrive - they have essentially tapped into the human need for family by creating it at work. Now, if you work at huge megaplexes like Pixar (which I love, don't get me wrong) or Google, you never even have a need to leave work. You can do everything short of getting a good night's sleep at work. Conglomerates find it an essential part of overall planning to provide: gyms, childcare, healthy nutritious affordable food, and transportation as well as retirement and health plans. It takes us back to the days when your father was a carpenter, so you were a carpenter and therefore your children would be carpenters. This artificial fabrication of family is our modern American kibbutz; these days woe to the person who does not socialize with their co-workers outside the office and fie on anyone who treats the work day as a work day.

It's no wonder that people sometimes go postal when they get laid off or fired. I mean, you might as well have disowned them Don Corleone style. This can also make many office events feel contrived and geared towards creating connection - or as the 'Stache used to call it, "mandated fun, wheee!"

Via my galpal Elly: from the Worry Isn't Work (Harvard Business Blog)

What does re-thinking mean in this case? Start thinking of being hard on yourself as being irresponsible. Start thinking of wasting half of your brain power on fantasies about your own destruction as self-indulgent. Conflate self-negativity with laziness. Start thinking of time for yourself as being responsible. Start thinking of a healthy mid-day meal as essential to your productivity, time away from your desk as productive.

How much time do you spend thinking about work - even outside of work? And how much do we commend others around us for spending more time working. Often times, our relaxation and refresh time is just as important as working time. These days, working isn't about working longer or even harder- that much has been proven true - it's about working better.

Work bitches, work.