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BOOKS

The Good Enough Job: Reclaiming Life from Work by Simone Stolzoff

Work has never been weirder. We’ve got entrepreneurs, serial entrepreneurs and solopreneurs. We’ve got remote work, hybrid work and asynchronous work. We’ve got companies trying four-day weeks. We’ve got companies trying unlimited vacation. We’ve got virtual assistants and outsourced co-workers and trendy co-working offices.

And all of it exists because while most people work to afford their life, most people don’t want work to be their life. Unfortunately, in America, we’re terrible at this. Not only are we one of the worst in the world at it… BUT, after reading Simone Stolzoff’s new book, The Good Enough Job, you’ll learn that we might historically be the worst work/life balance society in history.

I met Simone (who has written for The Atlantic and Wired) a while back through Twitter and I’ve been following his progress on this book for some time.

I’m a sucker for cool concepts and this one is great: tell the history of work through a series of profiles on modern workers who hold all kinds unique, interesting jobs.

I learned a ton reading this and when I was done I had a few questions for Simone about work, modern labor and how we got here. I emailed him and he was kind enough to respond so I could share his answers with our Books & Biceps crew.

Here is our Exclusive Q&A with Simone Stolzoff:

B&B: In your research you discovered that in the 1970s, American workers worked the same amount of hours per week as people in France, Germany and Japan.

Now, in 2023, you write that Americans work on average 6 hours more per week than the French, 3.5 more hours per week than the Japanese and... wait for it... a full 8 hours more per week (an entire workday) more than the Germans.

This all leads me to one question: WHAT THE HELL? What happened?

Stolzoff: For the majority of the 20th century, average working time in developed nations steadily decreased thanks to organized labor and technological advances, but in the late 1970s something strange occurred: a subset of high-earning Americans—specifically college-educated men—started working more than ever.

That is to say, the same folks who could afford to work less were trading their free time for more work. There are many possible explanations for why, but the one I harp on in the book is that for many Americans, work became the primary source of meaning and identity in their lives.

After studying the history of work for this book, if you could pick any time and place to begin your working life as an adult, where and when would it be?  

Ancient Rome? Modern Tokyo? 1970s Paris? Why? 

Amazing question. As a writer, I've gotta say Paris in the 20s--the Midnight in Paris era. I could already see myself prancing around Gertrude Stein's salons, trying to get a word in with Fitzgerald and Hemingway.

You interviewed a variety of people with careers all over the map, including a Google employee who lived in the parking lot.  

What was the most fascinating career you came upon that you didn't know existed? Are there any you'd like to try as a second career at some point? 

I interviewed over 100 folks for the book—from kayak guides in Alaska to stay-at-home parents in Copenhagen—and I can't say that I came across anyone whose job I'd rather do than my own. There were certainly aspects of people's lives that were appealing—the former Wall St. banker who now lives in California and surfs every day, the freelance creative director who never works more than 20 hours a week—but I feel extremely grateful to do work that, for the most part, I enjoy.

Your final chapter is titled 'A World with Less Work'.  

It takes dead aim at hustle culture: work hard, work long, build a zillion income streams.... Always be hustling and side hustling.  

What did you uncover as the biggest long-term negatives for people with this mindset? And why did it develop recently? 

Too many of us believe that more hours working always leads to better work—but that belief is a holdover from the industrialized era.

In a knowledge economy, we need space for ideas to bounce around in our heads. There isn't always a direct relationship between how many hours we put in and the quality of our work. Although side grinds and hustle culture are still often idolized, a life centered around work doesn't necessarily produce the best work or the most well-rounded people...

If you enjoyed this interview, make sure you pick up a copy of The Good Enough Job here.  

BICEPS

I came across an article this week in Men’s Health with Jason Momoa’s trainer, Damian Viera, promoting Fast X. Momoa is a unique dude who trains hard and I like some of the kettlebell and slam ball work he does. This is my favorite excerpt that explains his bell and slam ball routine:

Momoa's intense training varies from wearing a weighted vest while performing some serious kettlebell workouts to Bulgarian split squats. "We blast legs," says Viera, adding, "The split squats are also good for hip rotation. We'll run six sets of split squats for each leg, with 10 to 12 reps for each size of kettlebell. Right now, we have 53-, 61-, 70-, 88-, 97-, and 106-lb kettlebells" (via Men's Journal). Why kettlebells? They offer unilateral training, along with more changeability than working with dumbbells. It's important you caught the weighty tail end of Viera's quote, though: "106-lb kettlebells."

Momoa also performs a "kettlebell workout ladder," which includes a 6-set sequence of 10 to 12 reps for each kettlebell size, as follows: double-kettlebell deadlifts, double-kettlebell squats, double-kettlebell swings, one-kettlebell cleans, and one-kettlebell swings.

I’ll be doing my own version of the kettlebell ladder in the Flex Factory this week. If you try it too, let me know!

You can read the whole article here.

Quick Flexes

I’ve been fascinated with Dr. Ronald McNair for a long time. If you’ve never heard of him, read this now:

Check out this awesome kettlebell sunrise I grabbed at the end of my morning workout outside the Flex Factory:

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Strong Links

🏋️If you’ve seen pictures of the Flex Factory, AKA, my garage gym, you know I’m a fan of Titan Fitness equipment. It’s durable as hell. It lasts forever. And it looks cool. Amazingly, through the magic of Books & Biceps, I’ve been in touch with them and they’ve made me a partner. Incredible, right?

Right now they have the exact power rack I have in my garage gym on sale. You can check it out here.

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Thank you all for reading.

Have a great weekend! - Jon

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