“I Don’t Have The Time To Do Great Things When I’m Forced To Work For A Living”: Employee Responds After CEO Sends Out A “Motivational” Quote

We could all benefit from a little boost in motivation once in a while, but well-intentioned efforts don’t always have the desired effect. That’s what one CEO recently learned after he emailed his employees a quote in an attempt to increase their productivity.

One woman couldn’t resist breaking down exactly why she disagrees with his message, so below, you’ll find a post that she shared on the Anti-work subreddit detailing the entire exchange, as well as some of the replies invested readers left.

When utilized perfectly, a good motivational quote can go a long way

Image credits: The Coach Space (not the actual photo)

But after one CEO shared a message that this woman disagreed with, she was quick to explain exactly why the quote lacks nuance

Image credits: Yuliana Kungurova (not the actual photo)

Image source: rosie-bee-23

Later, the employee responded to comments and provided more info on the situation

Just because everyone has the same amount of time does not mean we all get to choose exactly how we spend it

Image credits: PNW Production (not the actual photo)

Technically, we do all have the same 24 hours per day, however it is naïve to assume that we all have the same amount of responsibilities during that time. If you’re a parent, a significant amount of your day might be consumed with taking care of your children. If you don’t have the resources to have someone else clean your home for you, keeping your house tidy can take up a lot of time as well. If you work a 9-5 job, you’re likely going to be much busier than someone who has the luxury of setting their own hours. And if you don’t have a partner who can help balance the burdens of grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning, chores may eat up a large portion of your day as well.

While this employee acknowledges that her CEO was well-intentioned with this email, he likely does not understand where his workers are coming from and the lifestyles that they lead. While we all know money can’t buy us happiness per se, it can buy us resources and free time, and according to a study on time use and happiness, having “active free time” does make a person happier. This study examined a group of Dutch millionaires and a group of Dutch citizens with an average level of wealth and analyzed their happiness levels compared to how they tend to spend their time. The millionaires tended to spend their free time on active leisure activities, such as playing sports, pursuing hobbies and doing volunteer work, while the less affluent group was more likely to watch TV and scroll through social media.    

Someone with disposable income will have more resources and opportunities to pursue hobbies than the average person

Unsurprisingly, the millionaires reported higher levels of satisfaction with their lives, and the more passively people tended to spend their leisure time, the less happy they were. But we cannot ignore the fact that money still plays a part in these results. Many hobbies and activities cost money that the average person may not have laying around. Taking pottery classes, paying for a gym membership, going golfing and painting all have fees associated with them, while hanging out at home might not cost a person any more than they’re already paying for Wi-Fi. Having disposable income allows a person to be more adventurous with how they spend their money, and if they didn’t have to return home after an 8-hour shift to clean their entire home, they might not be too exhausted to go play basketball with friends.

Now, it’s not impossible for all of us to spend our time more wisely. Many of us could cut out social media or wake up an hour earlier to squeeze in that workout we “never have time for” or actually finish writing that book we’ve been working on for years. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American spends 2.5 hours a day watching TV, and most people in the US have 5 hours of free time per day. But we tend to always feel like we have no time at all, so why is that? Business psychologist Tony Crabbe says that one problem is our hyper-awareness of  time. We feel frantic and assume that we never have enough of it, so we lose the motivation to use what we do have. We also tend to attempt to multi-task too often, which can backfire. 

And we should not feel obligated to use every single minute of the day productively

Image credits: Andrea Piacquadio (not the actuqal photo)

“Our ever-present phones allow us to fill all our time productively, to communicate in real-time, and to juggle multiple tasks, swatting away incoming demands like some super-charged task-ninja, potent and efficient,” Tony Crabbe writes. “As we seek to maximize our time, we slice and dice it into ever-smaller increments. This leads to what Brigid Schulte calls time-confetti; however, the real impact isn’t on our time, but on our attention. When we scatter our attention across a thousand micro-activities, we prevent ourselves from engaging deeply or thinking properly.”

There’s no question that a single parent raising two children on an income just slightly over minimum wage will have more on her plate than a CEO who can easily delegate tasks out to others and afford to pay for a nanny, housekeeper and dinner at a restaurant. We should all aim to use our time as wisely as possible, but that doesn’t mean we need to be productive 24/7. Relaxing is important as well, and we should never feel guilty about not changing the world in the same ways Leonardo Da Vinci and Mother Teresa did. Most of us are slaving away at desk jobs for 8 hours, after all. We would love to hear your thoughts on this post in the comments below, pandas. Do you agree with this CEO’s point? And if you’re interested in checking out another Bored Panda article featuring the Anti-work subreddit, look no further than right here.   

Many readers applauded the employee for speaking up, though some were concerned she might face retaliation

Bored Panda has reached out to the employee via Reddit and will update the article as soon as we hear back.

The post “I Don’t Have The Time To Do Great Things When I’m Forced To Work For A Living”: Employee Responds After CEO Sends Out A “Motivational” Quote first appeared on Bored Panda.