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If You Get Rich, You Won't Quit Working For Long (bbc.com)
An anonymous reader writes: You'd think striking it suddenly rich would be the ultimate ticket to freedom. Without money worries, the world would be your oyster. Perhaps you'd champion a worthy cause, or indulge a sporting passion, but work? Surely not. However, remaining gainfully employed after sudden wealth is more common than you'd think. After all, there are numerous high-profile billionaires who haven't called it quits despite possessing the luxury to retire, including some of the world's top chief executives, such as Amazon's Jeff Bezos and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg. But it turns out, the suddenly rich who aren't running companies are also loathe to quit, even though they have plenty of money. That could be, in part, because the link between salary and job satisfaction is very weak. According to a meta-analysis by University of Florida business school professor Timothy Judge and other researchers, there's less than a 2% overlap between the two factors. In the long run, we derive job satisfaction from non-monetary sources, which include positive peer relationships, the ability to work on meaningful projects and even leadership opportunities.
^^^ came here to to say this. I recently am coming off a 12 month break of doing nothing. Literally nothing. Sleeping until noon, going to bed at 4am, playing video games and chilling. I did keep the house clean ;). The only productive thing I did in those 12 months is cook and clean the house. Every night dinner on the table. I felt like a stay at home mom, except I'm a single father.
My experience, at first was cool, it was something new. Quickly wore off, now I'm at the point where I only interact with family and 1 friend IRL and I find myself feeling deeply depressed. I have no goals, no motives, and that's just no life to live. I wake up feeling sad, like another day of nothing. I love going to sleep because I get a break from my boring life. I truly believe this experiment has left me with clinical depression. When I worked I was never this sad. Never was my sleep schedule so off when I worked.
I guess long story short is I agree. Humans need to have a purpose. Or atleast something that gives them pleasure. Sitting around doing nothing all day even with money, is quite boring and not fulfilling at all. I can't wait to get back to work.
My experience, at first was cool, it was something new. Quickly wore off, now I'm at the point where I only interact with family and 1 friend IRL and I find myself feeling deeply depressed. I have no goals, no motives, and that's just no life to live. I wake up feeling sad, like another day of nothing. I love going to sleep because I get a break from my boring life. I truly believe this experiment has left me with clinical depression. When I worked I was never this sad. Never was my sleep schedule so off when I worked.
I'm in a similar position, though not of my choosing, and completely understand what you mean. I'm 53, debt-free and financially independent for my current and foreseeable future (looking 50+years out) according to my budget, even without a job, so don't need to work. I still do work 3/4 to full time because I think I'd be bored and have also never been w/o a job. I'm in this position because I was very happily married to a wonderful woman, who was 19 years older than me, for 20 years and we lived responsibly accounting for the fact that she would retire before me. Instead, she died, literally in my arms, of a brain tumor in Jan 2006, just seven weeks after diagnosis. I'm still a bit lost and without direction because she was all that really mattered... The only thing I can really disagree with you is that my experience was never cool.
Remember Sue...
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
This is why I farm even though it isn't super profitable. When you have a lot of land there is always something to do and you get plenty of daily exercise. You can setup experiments for different fields, work on optimizing breeds of livestock for your climate and needs, decide you need a new pond or you try out new direct marketing strategies... you're never bored.