When we spend the majority of our time doing work that gives us a paycheck but no sense of meaning we inevitably get bored and depressed." Unwritten rules . "In working so much have I done violence to my being? How often, doing work that is good, have I betrayed what is better in myself and abandoned what is best for those I love? How many hours would have been better spent walking in silence in the woods or wrestling with my children?
Two decades ago, near the end of what was a good but troubled marriage, my wife asked me: 'Would you be willing to be less efficient?' The question haunts me.