Workin’ 9 to 5, What a Way to Make a Livin’

Try This: Lie on your back with your sit bones against or a few inches away from a wall. Straighten your legs and rest your heels on the wall. Hold for five minutes or so, keeping the breath slow and steady.

“This is the real secret of life — to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.” ~ Alan Watts

“Work without love is slavery.” ~ Mother Teresa

Today is Labor Day, a holiday advocated by labor activists and trade unions in the Industrial Revolution (late 1880s) to honor “the social and economic achievements of American workers.”

As such, today is a good day to think about work and the role it has in your addiction and/or mental health recovery.

Ideally, work fulfills several functions:

Provides financial stability and comfort
Engages your mind and body with activity that feels rewarding
Lets you exercise your creativity and resourcefulness
Gives you a sense of self-esteem and empowerment
Gives you a sense of community and shared goals with your coworkers/teammates

All of that is a lot to ask of a job. Most of us feel lucky if we have a job we can tolerate and that pays the bills. When work is too stressful or has a toxic culture, it can lead to mental health issues and addiction if a person does not have healthy coping mechanisms in place.

How do you know when the problem is the job and when the problem is your attitude about the job and/or lifestyle choices that don’t support your energy? How do you know when the stress of the job you have will be more than the stress of quitting a job and starting over? How do you know when you’re setting your expectations too high and when you’re being realistic about what you need?

All great questions. Sometimes in recovery it’s easy to err on the side of not working: after all, you need time to heal, and you need distance from people and things that trigger relapse. However, not having a schedule that fills your day with meaningful activity can quickly become MORE dangerous to your recovery than having a less-than-ideal job. Isolation breeds overthinking, which can warp your perception of reality and lead to relapse.

So maybe, rather than waiting for the ideal job to appear, you can settle for a job that is imperfect in ways that you can handle. Because here’s another possible truth: contentment with your working life is less about the job you’re doing and more about your attitude at and about work.

Keeping that in mind, here are some suggestions if you’re feeling stuck about what to do for work.

Think about the ethics of work. Decide what you’re willing or unwilling to do. For example, you might decide that you don’t want to work for any company whose products harm, exploit, or deceive others. Read more about the Buddhist principle of Right Livelihood, if you’re interested.
Think about the stress of work. What stress level are you willing to shoulder? If you want a low-stress job, you might need to reevaluate the kind of lifestyle you want to have. You can probably live on much less income than you think, but you’ll have to be willing to live more simply.
Think about what makes you feel like you’ve had a good day at work. Is it the conversations with coworkers, collaborating with a team, being able to work slowly and thoughtfully, meeting a deadline, doing good work on a project, having time for a relaxing lunch, feeling like you’ve helped someone? Once you get a sense of what makes you say, “That was a good day,” you’ll know whether to change your job or change your approach to your current job.

Let’s say that you don’t love the job you have right now, but it gives you what you need financially and you’re afraid to give it up. That’s okay. You can still turn the job you have into a job you somewhat enjoy with a few changes to your approach.

Find something to love about it. Maybe all you love right now is that you have a good parking space. Really love that parking space. Feel the gratitude in your whole body.
Focus on it fully. When we don’t love what we’re doing, we often do it distractedly, trying to multitask with things we like better (like texting with a friend, scrolling through funny dog videos, etc.). Instead, put aside all distractions and completely engage with what you’re doing.
Do your best work, but do it in a relaxed way. Remember that your best won’t be the same every day. Show up, focus, but allow fluctuations in productivity.
Take away the urgency. This takes concentration–and courage! A long to-do list, multiple looming deadlines, hundreds of unopened emails in your inbox–it can induce panic and make you feel like you must scramble and rush to get it all done. Don’t scramble and rush. Work at a deliberate pace that doesn’t elevate your heart rate or blood pressure.
Take away the attachment. Part of what it means to turn work into play is that you don’t stake your self-esteem on the outcome. Do good work, and don’t get too pleased or too discouraged about how others react to it.

Let’s say you make these attitude and behavior shifts and your employer gets on your case for not getting everything done. That’s the point at which you get to decide whether you want to work in a stress-inducing way to make your employer happy, or whether you want to start looking for different work. Maybe an honest conversation with your employer will help you reach a compromise.

It’s good to work. Work builds confidence and gives you a sense of purpose, and even the most menial jobs can do these things. It’s not about what you’re doing but how you’re doing it.

Now rest and enjoy the Labor Day holiday!

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