Work isn't everything
But "Quiet quitting" is not a viable long-term strategy that is likely to work for anyone. More guidance, inspiration and fun inside.
When I first moved to New Zealand in 2005, I worked in physiotherapy department in a hospital. I was funded by a Government agency called ACC - New Zealand's accident compensation scheme. It provides no-fault personal injury insurance cover to all New Zealand residents, and visitors to New Zealand.
One of its missions is to help people return to work after an injury. But as a therapist, I am always keen to assess all aspects of people’s lives when they come for help - including the place of work in their lives, and whether they’re happy with it. When I talked with people, over time, many of them started to shift perspective, perhaps leading them to work less, or explore other avenues of work they would like to explore. The injury that brought them to the clinic was often the latest in a long line of problems that signalled that things weren't working for them.
My managers were displeased. But I saw this as a fundamental conflict.
My job was the serve my client’s needs - and I saw that as the person who was in my clinic, not the funder. I ended up quitting. And not quietly. I ended up paying back the bond that paid for me and my stuff to be relocated to New Zealand. But it was worth it. The conflict was making me so miserable and homesick, I almost quit New Zealand entirely to go home.
I didn’t. I went back to the UK to regroup for a couple of weeks. Then I returned to quit the job instead, moved cities, and moved on.
The problem with quiet quitting, or working to rule, is that if you aren’t careful, you get stuck and it can make you miserable. It isn’t a long-term strategy and it’s a kind of passive aggressive way to dig your heels in. Sure, it may not feel safe sometimes to do anything else, or maybe you just can’t afford to do anything different right now. But it can be a lonely and dispiriting experience, and I doubt if it is a useful long-term strategy for anyone.
Thanks to my paid subscribers who enable me to spend the time writing that I do. I’d love to do more. As it is, I may need to cut back on the amount that I post. If you can afford to become a member, I’d really appreciate it.
Nobel peace prize winners call for action on online disinformation
A group of Nobel peace prize winners have called on governments to adopt a technology action plan to tackle the “existential threat” to democracies posed by online disinformation, hate speech and abuse.
The plan, presented at the freedom of expression conference at the Nobel Peace Center in Norway, comes with three general demands:
an end to the “surveillance-for-profit” business model that harvests users’ data to maximise engagement and underpins multibillion dollar spending by advertisers on social media companies;
asking tech firms to treat all users equally around the world;
and urging newsrooms and governments to support independent journalism.
We urge rights-respecting democracies to wake up to the existential threat of information ecosystems being distorted by a Big Tech business model fixated on harvesting people’s data and attention, even as it undermines serious journalism and polarises debate in society and political life.
Personally, I have deleted the Facebook app from my phone, and I very rarely look at Instagram these days - it just seems to be a place for dodgy influencers to try to sell me stuff. Even though I kind-of-like Twitter, I’ll be taking a few weeks off there shortly too.
Have you changed your social media habits recently? If so, why?
The social life of forests
Our 11-year-old daughter asked me how it was that trees could “talk” with each other using fungi. So, I did a bit explaining, and we dug around a little further too. Later on, I found this amazing interactive photo-essay that explains this in detail. It’s fascinating, and made free for readers of Noise Reduction via my New York Times subscription.
Click through, and you can also listen to the article if that’s your thing.
An old-growth forest is neither an assemblage of stoic organisms tolerating one another’s presence nor a merciless battle royale: It’s a vast, ancient and intricate society. There is conflict in a forest, but there is also negotiation, reciprocity and perhaps even selflessness… Recent research suggests that mycorrhizal networks also perfuse prairies, grasslands, chaparral and Arctic tundra — essentially everywhere there is life on land.
This curated newsletter took hours to read, research and pull together. If you can take ten seconds to share it I’d be so grateful - thanks!
Children more candid about mental health when talking to robot
A new study has found that children felt more comfortable confiding in the child-sized, quizzical-looking humanoid than when responding to mental health assessments with their parents, in some cases disclosing information that they had not previously shared.
PhD student Nida Itrat Abbasi, the study's first author, said: "Since the robot we use is child-sized, and completely non-threatening, children might see the robot as a confidante - they feel like they won't get into trouble if they share secrets with it.”
The “toaster” on Mars that is making oxygen right now
An instrument the size of a toaster has been successfully generating breathable oxygen on Mars, doing the work of a small tree.
The MOXIE (Mars OXygen In-situ resource utilization Experiment) on NASA’s 2020 rover is designed to demonstrate technology that can generate oxygen from carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere. After a 2-hour warmup period MOXIE began producing oxygen at a rate of 6 grams per hour. After an hour of operation, the total oxygen produced was about 5.4 grams, enough to keep an astronaut healthy for about 10 minutes of normal activity.
MOXIE has more work to do, but the results from this technology demonstration are full of promise as we move toward our goal of one day seeing humans on Mars. Oxygen isn’t just the stuff we breathe. Rocket propellant depends on oxygen, and future explorers will depend on producing propellant on Mars to make the trip home - Jim Reuter, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate
The beginner’s guide to loving exercise
“Play some Kylie, keep it short and enlist your friends” - I couldn’t agree more!
There are many reasons people struggle to get fit. Here’s a great little guide on how to build an effective fitness routine that you’ll stick to – and (mostly) enjoy.
People convince themselves they’re not making any progress, but they’ve got no point of reference… Most of my coaching is pointing out what’s already happening to people who are too hard on themselves: a lifetime of it not working makes them think it’s not going to.” Notice and log your progress. That needn’t be running for longer, building muscle or losing weight; it could be having more energy, being more patient with your kids, or improved sleep. - Robbie Thompson, trainer and coach
Reading, watching, listening
Listening: The Taylor Hawkins tribute concert has been on my mind this week - see the tweet above with the video of his 16-year-old son playing drums at the concert. Brought a tear to my eye for sure. Here’s the original video with Taylor himself on drums.
Watching: Getting into Bad Sisters on Apple TV+ Some of the episodes are a littler over-long and padded out, but it’s an enjoyable survival / revenge story - check out the trailer below.
Not much time for reading again this week. Really must try to make some, but I can’t some to find the motivation, or time, with everything else right now. Sometimes life is like that.
Thanks for reading - and please consider becoming a paid member - but if you can’t do that, please share my newsletter - it really helps. Cheers!
I came to the conclusion that I was unemployable two decades ago. I was a bad employee, non compliant and generally more interested in the 'why' than the 'what'.
Most employers (especially Govt agencies) have little interest in the 'why' or doing much about it. Sure, this has probably meant that I have missed out financially (compliance pays well they tell me) but I describe what I do now as 'fun with a sprinkling of work' - and I don't hate myself either.
Best moment of self-awareness that I ever had!
Thanks for the heads up on the Nobel prize winners' call. I agree completely. No thanks on the Kylie idea though. Foo Fighters much better.