‘I think that sounds like a great idea.’
Some might have thought that starting a think tank on happiness was not the best career move in the wake of a global recession, but I remember my dad telling me at a very early age that you should not focus on potential earnings when it comes to a job but on the satisfaction you would get from doing it. ‘You are going to spend a huge part of your life working – it should be something you enjoy.’
‘One should not focus on potential earnings when it comes to jobs – one should focus on the satisfaction you would get from it.’
Wolf Wiking
The first years were tough. No money. No free time. I had never worked so hard, earned so little – and had so much fun. And I am not the only one to have had that experience.
‘I don’t even think we should call it work. We should call it “creating”. We get to create something. And what I create is part of me. It is part of my identity. That is where true happiness comes from.’ As well as being a Danish social entrepreneur in the fashion industry, Veronica is a force of nature and a beacon of joy. Last summer, I met her, her husband and their daughter after the three of them had spent a month in Peru looking for the perfect alpaca wool. When I spoke with her a year later, the family had just returned from a month in Thailand looking for the perfect silk. This time, Veronica was five months pregnant, but one thing that was common to both trips is that the family went to a prison. A women’s prison.
Credit 34
‘Well, actually, my daughter could only come to the prison with us in Peru, not Thailand,’ Veronica laughs.
Veronica, after discovering that most women in prison in developing countries are incarcerated for poverty-related crimes, established the Copenhagen-based fashion label Carcel – which enables women in prison to turn wasted time into skills and paid jobs so they can support themselves, send their children to school and save up for a new, crime-free beginning, in the hope, ultimately, of breaking the cycle of poverty and crime. Each product carries the name of the woman who made it and is manufactured inside women’s prisons which pay fair wages to the women to help them support themselves and their children.
Creating a business from scratch is hard work. ‘I am poor, but I am happy. And yes, I work far more than I would in a normal job. But I would not trade this for any other job in the world. The biggest change is that you are your job. I am not a mother, then a director, then a girlfriend, then a friend. I am Veronica. All the time. That is what makes me so happy.’
And Veronica is not alone. According to the World Happiness Report, the self-employed are worse off in many ways, including income, hours of work and job security, but even so, they often report higher levels of overall job satisfaction than do the employed, at least in OECD countries.
Why are entrepreneurs in OECD countries happier than employees, but not in all poorer countries? The answer lies in the reason behind the decision to become an entrepreneur. Did we start our own business because we wanted to – or did we start a business because there were no opportunities in the regular labour market?
So, yes, the self-employed often work more hours than the employed. And yes, perhaps we also need to sleep on friends’ couches more often because money is tight. But we are also happier. At least, that is what the studies show. The self-employed report not just higher levels of job satisfaction but also higher levels of life satisfaction.
Another reason is that the self-employed are a weird bunch. We are more optimistic than others. One of us started a business that sells Serenity Dog Pods. However, it is also clear that when people go from regular employment to self-employment, they report higher levels of life satisfaction. Why?
Entrepreneurs have a greater sense of purpose, of direction in life, but studies also confirm the widely held notion that greater freedom and the opportunity to be your own boss are sources of happiness both at work and outside work.
Entrepreneurs hardly ever have enough free time, but they do experience plenty of freedom: the freedom to pursue a passion; the freedom to say no to a client; the freedom to schedule work around the needs of the family.
‘I decide where I am when. Having small kids makes it difficult to focus on your career – but being an entrepreneur allows you to design your daily life differently. Around what my kid needs first,’ explains Veronica. ‘If I sense my daughter is sad one morning, I will just arrive for work an hour later and I will read another book to her. I don’t have a boss who tells me I can’t be with my daughter now. Also, she is with us on this adventure. This will be part of her story, too. We are creating our common story together.’
However, while many desire the freedom that entrepreneurs enjoy, fewer want the risk that comes with it. So, it is worth looking for ways to enjoy greater autonomy and freedom at work as a regular employee.
FIVE WAYS TO FREE UP YOUR TIME
COOK MORE THAN YOU NEED: Cook a bigger portion of a meal at the weekend than you will eat at one sitting, and freeze the leftovers to provide meals on other days.
USE SLACK TIME: Make use of the time you spend waiting throughout the day – two minutes here; five minutes there. Set yourself up to make use of these time ‘leftovers’. Decide beforehand what you want to spend this time doing. I spend mine on Duolingo to improve my Spanish – and since you now have started flirting with the idea of moving to Italy, why not learn a few Italian words? Va bene?
TWO IN ONE:
Instead of choosing between, for example, socializing and exercising, you may be able to combine them. Go for a run with your buddy, play Frisbee, go mountain biking in the woods.
TIE YOURSELF TO THE MAST: In The Odyssey, Odysseus asks to be tied to the mast, in order not to give in to the temptation of the Sirens. Today, we need to find something that helps us to steer clear of time stealers like Facebook. Most people wish they spent less time browsing the internet or looking at Facebook, and apps like Freedom help you to do this, preventing you from using the internet for up to eight hours.
APPLY PARKINSON’S LAW: You are likely to be more efficient if you have less time. If your spouse’s parents call and say they are dropping by in fifteen minutes, no doubt you manage to clean the house super-efficiently. According to Cyril Northcote Parkinson, British historian and author, ‘Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.’ To come at this from a different angle, schedule when you have to start a task – and when you have to finish it.
MAILS, MEETINGS AND MANAGERS
Imagine having a full day when you are by yourself at work. There are no meetings. You won’t find yourself in a conference room with eight colleagues listening to only two of those people discussing what the right solution is to some issue or other.
Your boss is not going to call you and ask for a progress report on the IT project, and no emails are ticking in with ‘URGENT’ in the subject line. It is a nice dream, isn’t it? Imagine what you could do with that level of freedom. Imagine how much work you would get done that day. Profound work, work that needs your full attention and concentration. Work which you have chosen to do and enjoy doing.