This is tangentially related to anti-work but I’m not sure it gets talked about enough (I’m new here). Please let me know if it’s just me. I think our Pavlovian conditioning regarding performance at work is not only extremely painful, but one of the main dimensions we need to look at when we discuss anti-work.
I have this very unsettling attachment to work. I principally believe in the anti-work movement because I agree with its tenets, but I’ve also grown up in an environment where the pro-work propaganda is next level. It was taught to me in school, in religious institutions, and at home. Then I started to do “well” in school, which at first was harmless. I was being recognized for my academic compliance (I refuse to refer to it as achievement) and it created this conditioning relationship that continues to live on to this day. It morphed from school academics to college then grad school and now at work.
I can think logically about detaching myself from all these external validators but no matter how hard I try, when it comes time for a performance review, I’m that anxious approval-seeking child all over again.
Sure, I can analyze what was missing from other relationships in my life. But as far as the anti-work conversation goes, I think we collectively need to look at the modes in which this kind of attachment thrives and intensifies all on its own merit. It’s … very similar to addiction.
Please let me know your thoughts, or if you have any books you’d recommend on this topic.