The Good Enough Job: What We Gain When We Dont Put Work First

(Paperback)

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You are so much more than just your job - a manifesto for a new era of working, one in which your self-worth isn't tied to what you do. 'An incredibly propulsive read. It will absolutely challenge you, in the best way possible, to change the way you think about work.' Anne Helen Petersen 'A sharp analysis of modern work culture.' Vauhini Vara The Good Enough Job reminds us that the biggest goal of all is to live a life we are happy with, and in which work is but one of the multitude of facets that make us who we are. An antidote to the toxic #hustle movement convincing us all we need to find fulfilment in the office, it denounces the dangers of burnout linked to those of us who cannot answer the question- beyond work, what's left Conversations of burnout have bubbled to the top of the cultural zeitgeist as the line between work and not-work continues to blur. Burnout and workaholism are symptoms of a deeper root cause- a lack of separation between who we are and what we do. This book is not a credo against looking to work for fulfilment, nor is it in favour of treating work as a necessary evil. It is a guide to developing a healthier relationship to work through the stories of people who have successfully done so. These are stories that invite us to re-evaluate what makes us happy, and how we can work to live, rather than the other way round.

Reviews

Superb work. A fascinating and deeply reported challenge to the idea that our work should - or ever could - be the only centre of meaning, self-worth or community in our lives. The real-life stories recounted here fill the reader with the liberating sense that we absolutely could put work back in its place- and that the result would be both richer lives and more effective work. * Oliver Burkeman, New York Times bestselling author of FOUR THOUSAND WEEKS *
The Good Enough Job is an incredibly propulsive read, filled with characters whose stories will be at once familiar and astonishing - and it will absolutely challenge you, in the best way possible, to change the way you think about work. This isn't a book about burnout, or addiction to a certain type of work - at least not precisely. It's a book about how so many people have come to root their entire sense of value in the work that they do for pay - and what happens when that strategy begins to sour. * Anne Helen Petersen, co-author of OUT OF OFFICE and author of CAN'T EVEN *
Simone Stolzoff provides an important corrective to the modern impulse to either villainize or lionize our jobs, arguing that it's okay for our work to be just one element among many that contribute to a life well-lived. * Cal Newport, New York Times bestselling author of DIGITAL MINIMALISM and DEEP WORK *
The Good Enough Job is a super helpful guide for anyone looking to renegotiate their relationship with work and to better fit their career goals into a happier, more fulfilling life. * Laurie Santos, Chandrika and Ranjan Tandon Professor of Psychology at Yale University and host of The Happiness Lab podcast *
I couldn't stop reading The Good Enough Job. It's packed with sharp analysis about modern work culture and vivid, surprising, page-turning stories of people who have sought - often clumsily, always bravely - to detach their sense of meaning and self-worth from their productivity as workers. In this timely dissection of what our overworked culture is doing to our psyches, I was startled to recognize myself. You will, too. * Vauhini Vara, former technology reporter for the Wall Street Journal, story editor at the New York Times and author of THE IMMORTAL KING RAO *

Author Bio

Simone Stolzoff is a journalist and designer from San Francisco. A former staff writer for Atlantic Media (Quartz/The Atlantic), he is now a design lead for the global design and innovation firm IDEO where he designs programs for companies like Google, Microsoft, and Facebook on how to best educate, engage, and retain their employees. He holds a BA in Economics and Creative Writing from the University of Pennsylvania and an MA in Journalism from Stanford.