The future of work: what awaits us?

The future of work is already here. It not only affects our work life, but is
also increasingly taking hold of our
private lives. But there are not only downsides to this.

The conflict between work input and work intensification, between autonomy
and self-exploitation, or between physical workspaces and being a digital nomad with an unspecified, flexible workspace: these are
the signposts of this development,
which is no longer just limited to startups and creative workshops, after having now
also reached large commercial enterprises.

On the state of things.

Why is the average working day so dull? Why do we still traipse over to the office every single day? Day in, day out, we waste eight or nine hours of our life (or more) putting up with the same old monotony, mismanagement and moody colleagues in depressing rooms. We all spend far too much time at our desks. Jobs are eating into our leisure time, although we are well aware that the best ideas often come to us when we are not at work.

What with meetings, deadlines and simply hanging around waiting for the boss to head home, many people feel they could have done the same amount of work in four or five hours of efficient work on their own. And they’re right. Self-­employed individuals tend to work more efficiently and generally have more leisure time, more fun—and often more money too.

Anything but a traditional career; for that, a job at a com­pany is still essential. But this path immediately doubles back to the usual office annoyances mentioned at the start. Successful, but clearly dissatisfied friends and acquaintances back this up. There has to be a way to balance the two extremes.