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The Good Enough Job

The Good Enough Job

What We Gain When We Don’t Put Work First

Summary

'Superb.' Oliver Burkeman

'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

About the author

Simone Stolzoff

Simone Stolzoff is a writer, designer and work expert from San Francisco. A former design lead at the global innovation firm IDEO, his work has been featured in The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, and many other publications. He is a graduate of Stanford and The University of Pennsylvania.
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