Is it time to rethink our approach to work?

Why do we work? To earn a living, of course. But should we expect more?

We loved this TED talk from last year, in which American psychologist Barry Schwartz asks whether there’s more to work than money.

It seems the majority of us spend our waking hours doing things we’d rather not be doing. In fact, according to a 2013 Gallup poll, only 13% of people were actively engaged by their jobs.

Schwartz says we’ve consciously designed the way we work What's this?  around the idea that we only work to earn. This idea has become the reality. The trouble is, he says, the idea is false. And people have been laboring under this assumption for over 200 years now.

He believes we need to rethink the way we work and start putting satisfaction back at the heart of our working lives in order to create a new reality.

Do you think Schwartz is right? If you’re interested in exploring this idea further, take a look at his book Why We Work.