2018-10-15 Busy Work
I just read this article:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/oct/12/shadow-work-automation-tedious-jobs-oliver-burkeman
(at some point, I'm going to have to figure out if there's an easy way
to add in functioning URL links short of creating a sub-directory and
a gophermap file as each entry in my phlog...)
..anyway...
This article really speaks to the sense of busy-ness I feel almost all
the time. This is besides all the notifications one gets from all of
our technology. I've shut most of these off but it's the other things
we need to do now: the self-checkouts, the booking of tickets for
trips. All we seem to be doing is taking on unpaid work to make the
bottom line of some company better:
"In reality, it's taken paid work away from humans, while also
increasing their burden of shadow work, by transferring tasks from
employees to consumers."
Look at this quote from the article:
"We're not working longer paid hours; it's just that getting through
life entails more work."
Getting through life entails more work. *Sigh* That really hits
home. It seems like I spend most of my time getting ready to go do the
next thing. I've struggled with this problem for years and I still
don't have a solution for myself. While it's nice to see I'm not
alone, it worries me that so many other people are having this problem
and that the problem is getting worse.
The article mentioned a book that I now have a hold request for at my
local library, "Shadow Work: The Unpaid, Unseen Jobs That Fill Your
Day" (
http://craiglambert.net/about-shadow-works/). I hope it might
have some additional insight on this issue that hasn't yet occurred to
me.
