Money, money, moneeeeeeey…. MOOOONEEEEEEY!

Unfortunately, we can’t live without it. Unless you’re some crazy and wild person that can survive in the arctic with nothing but warm clothing and a hatchet, you’re going to have to earn it and spend it.

“It” obviously being money. Green. Cash. Paper. Coin. The list goes on.

Money is a quantifiable value we put on people’s services, products, or even just existence. I’m pretty sure there’s a lot of decedents of people that had plenty and passed it down. Blessing and a curse for the kids, really. They’ll never learn to work for things in life. Not like some of us, anyways.

How can we get our slice of the pie? Work, right? That’s it – “go out and get a job. Work 40 hours. If you pass up overtime you’re lazy.”

Now, in a world where we order everything with 2 clicks of a button, it seems that “going out to get a job” is just as archaic as going to the store to order a shirt. I can find it quicker, cheaper, and have a bigger selection online. So should work be much different? It still feels like they’re not on the same level.

There are always things I’m going to go to the store to get. I’m always going to get my food (fresh and frozen) from the store. Now, other than food and drink, I can’t think of much else I’m going to get from the store. Something I need NOW I may go get, but besides that, I can wait 4-5 business days for anything I want. Rack your brain, if you can think of anything else that wouldn’t be more conveniently ordered off Amazon, let me know. Dude, you can even order CARS online. Although, unless you’re Jay Leno, you’re probably test driving them first.

We’re heading towards the movie Wall-e. What do we need to leave our homes for anymore? Everything can be delivered. McDonalds? Check. Clothes? Check. Entertainment? INSTANT. It’s a scary thought. Human interaction happens through a microphone and screen now… if at all. The movie is an exaggeration but we’re not far off.

Now, how can we make such instant and ubiquitous communication work for us? Lot’s of work, should be able to done at that comfort of your own home, a coffee shop, or in the middle of Tahiti (mmmm warm beaches and palm trees). Seeking such employment for myself, I find that there’s plenty of it. Lots of call centers are simply remote workers from all over. People with backgrounds in computer engineering are in high demand. Did you know that the Greeting Card industry is all outsourced? I had no idea.

When I was always training people in group classes, students would be absent for a week or so, sometimes more. I’d ask them where they were. “Oh, _________ for a meeting.” You’re serious? They’d fly across the country for an hour long meeting. Don’t they have Skype? It always struck me as odd that people cling to the past and drag us all back there. Some people commute 2 hours both ways to work. 24 hours in a day and 4 of them spent in a car just getting TO work. Sometimes it’s necessary, but a LOT of that traffic is people commuting to work that don’t need to. If they could stay home, at least a couple days a week, there’s less cars on the road. That’s less traffic. Less traffic = Less commute time for a lot of people.

Work, if possible, should be accessible wherever you are. Looking at the trends, more employment is headed that way. Why pay for overhead when people can work from home and your “headquarters” could easily be your living room? It could be an online headquarters – an online meeting board. I’m pretty sure that a lot of companies have already gone this way. Someone referred me once to the app “Slack.” ‘Bout fuckin’ time, guys. Just wish I thought of it sooner.

I’ve always had a difficult time following concepts or rules that weren’t perpetuated by strong logic. Certain jobs were literally soul crushing. I could feel my heart sink and pressure be put upon it when I had to rearrange an entire store because it “looks nice.” That’ll bring up the sales numbers – rearrange where they sit on shelves. Great use of our time and energy. People won’t appear in the store because the Vitamin C is next to the protein powder (I used to work in a vitamin store and can tell you it’s mostly bullshit).

Now, unless it’s your product or company – there should be work/life balance. Countless experiments are being done around the world where companies are dialing back from M-F workweeks to M-Th. Sweden has been doing a 6 hour workday. Here’s what they’re finding… buckle up….

People are far more productive when they’re at work LESS.

Here’s what I conclude from that: People generally have no problem cranking out work for 4 days straight when they had a chance to enjoy some time AWAY from work. They’re probably, you know, not fucking miserable.

Quality, NOT quantity.

Work to live, not live to work.

Life was meant for living.

ETC.

It all rings true, guys!

Personally, my perfect form of “work” would be writing and being paid for it. I could write a book, a movie script, greeting cards. Hell, I’m sure I could push to monetize this blog if I tried super hard and wrote down the middle of the road. But as I’ve stated before, this is my public space to write. I’ll say whatever the fuck I want and it’s MY voice, which means more to me than money. The way I’m writing, I don’t foresee New York Times calling anytime soon.

BUT, I did get a call about lowering my car insurance. It was automated though. But who’s Allen?

Guess I’ll just keep writing.