We spend a lot of our lives at work. Somewhere between 40 and 50 hours a week. If you spend more than that, you need to find a new career. Now, whilst that is a lot of time, you spend almost double that not at work. So, applying the two ears and one mouth principle that says listening is twice more important than talking, not being at work is twice more important than being at work. 

Cue the idea of working to live, not living to work. 

With the GFC came a re-evaluation of priorities. We realised that there was more to life than sitting at a desk til all hours of the night. But, with the doom and gloom seemingly behind us, we all too quickly fall back in to old habits. We revert back to our old ways and return to slaving away for the man.

The job market is picking up again and head hunters are once again on the phone campaigning the benefits of new jobs. Employees who have sat patiently through the tough times, working harder for the same money are now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. And employers who think they have done right by not firing people are about to face a mass exodus.

I lost my job at the start of it all. I was pretty lucky that I managed to find a job pretty much straight away (after a brief stint blowing a bunch of cash laying on the beach, playing golf and pretending to be an international playboy) and look back at that event as being a blessing in disguise. I was thrust out of my comfort zone and look back 18 months on and see myself in a far better place.

I am back to once again seeing working as a means to an end. Working hard allows me to enjoy the things I want to do in life. Nice dinners, holidays and most importantly, quality time with my friends.

You will not find work on that list anywhere.