Why We Must Stop Working from 9-to-5
And it’s probably not what you think.
Wake up. Eat breakfast. Leave the house. Sit in traffic for far too long. “Why do we all get in the car at the same time.” Find a parking spot — a time-consuming and cumbersome exercise due to the daily traffic jam in the parking garage. Walk to the open-plan office. Find the usual spot. Hopefully. Start the computer. Go through emails. Attend a meeting. Attend another meeting. Go to lunch. Stand in a line.
I remember a Japanese colleague once called us “lunch refugees” when we stood in the work canteen unable to find a place to sit and eat. I never gave it a thought, but now I believe he had a point.
After lunch, the routine continues before returning to the car and facing traffic jams again for the drive home.
And the next day, it starts all over again.
Why do we continue to follow this daily routine so rigidly?
I increasingly feel like I’m wasting a lot of time. There must be so much more to life than this. Am I the only one who thinks something is wrong? Am I going crazy, or is it just a part of getting older?
I am struggling, but I’m convinced that our 9-to-5 mindset needs to change. We must become more flexible in our approach. The costs and waste are simply too…
