Is working 40 hours a week really so bad, or are we just convincing ourselves it is because we are having trouble finding such work?
I disapprove of it because I'm yet to find a job that results in me actually working anywhere close to 40 hours a week. Maybe that will change with this next co-op that starts in 2 weeks, but maybe not. It could be different for everyone else, but I find it to be a rigid structure that breeds monotony and going through the motions unless you're lucky enough to have a job you truly enjoy. I think the thing that might be worse than the work week is the work environment. If work was treated more like a normal extension of life then it would be a lot better. If I could have Reddit, Hubski, and music going, along with whatever else that would be great (assuming my work is still getting done), but I've never experienced that.
I am a shark. I enjoy much of the corporate world. I have friends, though, that hate it, find it suppressive, don't understand that there are things they should and shouldn't say at work, don't understand that there are topics they should not discuss. One friend compared it to lying or "not being true to oneself." I have trouble sympathizing, though. We all must learn to moderate our personality to social situations. The personality I present to my parents is not the same as the one I present to my friends and so on, but it doesn't mean I'm lying and it doesn't mean I'm not being true to myself. I'm just modulating my personality as the situation warrants. There are many facets of my being. Of course, it also sounds like our work environments are different. I can listen to my iPod at work if I want. I surf Hubski, Reddit too if it's a really slow day. Wikipedia when I've found topics I'm curious about. I am one of those people who works better when there is more work to do. Give me one task, tell me it's due Friday, and you can bet your ass I'm not doing it until Friday, and Mon-Thurs I'll be on Hubski, Wiki, Reddit, listening to podcasts, writing poetry. Give me five tasks and tell me they're due Friday and I will start them immediately. Then I will only surf and web-browse when I have the time, in a lull point. It may seem weird but to do my best work I need a lot of work to do. I like to be challenged. Like I said, I enjoy the corporate world and its structure. I am far from a standard corporate pawn, and I'm probably not a sociopath, either, but I find there is a certain beauty to it sometimes. That doesn't mean I don't also consider it a cage...but so many things in our lives are cages. Romantic relationships are cages. Your friends tie you down. Work is just the popular thing to resent. Work enables me to do the things I want to do, so I don't really mind work.
Oh yes, I absolutely tailor my personality based on the situation. Most people seem to do that, and from my experiences it results in a bland and usually homogeneous workplace (these are engineering places that I've worked at). Part of the problem is that I've worked in established industries where the companies I was with were essentially boys clubs filled with 50 year old guys who didn't care to try to relate to younger people. The more recent one made it clear that employees weren't really supposed to be doing much other than working or putting on the appearance of working while at work. So if I had nothing to do, I sat there and tried to look busy. The other two were better, but there was still an air about it. I'm exactly the same way as you with functioning better when more tasks are at hand. Even my class grades have historically been better in periods where I'm busiest. I'm much more productive when there are a lot of different things going on at once. I disagree with this. Romantic relationships are cages if it's not a relationship where the people aren't growing together as people and expanding their horizons. A relationship should never be a cage, and if it is it should probably end unless there's an effort to fix whatever issues are causing that. I've never had friends tying me down. They haven't prevented me from going to college, from going to Europe, from investing in my future and exploring my passions. It's a different culture in that aspect due to where I go to college. People are constantly moving to work in different places because it's required of many of our programs. Due to this it's accepted that you may not see your friends for months on end, and most people have learned how to maintain friendships from afar. Work brings much less joy and fulfillment to me than friends, family, relationships, or many other things. I'm not sure if it means I've chosen the wrong profession, but the lack of joy (comparatively) is the major reason that I'm resentful of work.Romantic relationships are cages. Your friends tie you down. Work is just the popular thing to resent.