IT for the right reasons: Optimizing processes that set humans freeto do things that matter.

What I want - as I imagine everybody does - is a happy and healthy life. But in a fast-paced, performance society where we are assessed not only on our professional achievements but also on our personal ones, I sometimes find this hard to achieve.

 

When I think about the forces in my life having an impact on happiness and health, I can identify two flows that make up 100% of my time spend awake: Work and pleasure.

 

Work takes energy. Pleasure gives energy.

 

The key to happiness and health in my life is balancing the two. I can feel my body and mind going into resistance when I spend too much time working OR relaxing. I will be inclined to move more towards the other one. But let me tell you, ignoring my resistance for too long had always brought bad days to me.

 

So, how to balance work and pleasure the best way?

 

Well, that depends on the type of person you are. Some people feel perfectly fine with a 75-25 work-pleasure ratio. Others are at their best with 25-75. In our achievement-oriented society, however, you are considered lazy when only 25% fall onto work. I disagree entirely with this.

 

We created a world in which 40h work weeks are the norm, and we expect our people to be productive this whole time. And yes. For some people, that works well. For many others, it doesn't work at all. Depression and burnout are on the rise.

I know this sounds cynical, but perhaps it's time to explore what we can do differently?

 

I believe the goal should be to help people find their purpose in life and not max out their labor capacity. To create time for things that really matter: building and maintaining relationships. There is plenty of work that can't be done by a computer and requires actual humans. Social and community work. Care for children and the elderly. Teaching. Being a nurse and many more. And I believe people should be able to do that without worrying about their survival, which translates to having to pay rent in our modern times.

 

Suppose we can find a way to create happier and healthier lives by optimizing business processes that set human energy free to do work that matters: What would that do to your work-pleasure balance?

 

Keep an eye out for the second part of this blog series and explore what human energy is and how that is part of your identity.