I believe, for most of us, work is never as interesting as pastime. Is it so... is it due to the money earned?

Question

Is money then a negative motivator like fear?

Answer 1

The difference between work and play is that the first is obligatory, and the latter is by freewill.

Tom Sawyer

Answer 2

I believe experiments have shown that giving a reward for engaging in an activity--any activity--makes you less likely to perform that activity without the expectation of the reward. Unfortunately, irony of all ironies, I have to leave for work soon and can't pull that research up.

But, it may not be all that relevant. After all, what the research would show is that: if you get paid for doing your job, you would be less willing to do the work without pay. Well, no duh.

It's not that a job can't be as interesting as your leisure time. I'm sure it could be. I think it's the routine that most people have to follow everyday. Observe a common cycle:

-Get up earlier than desired
-Potentially get dressed in clothing that you don't like wearing
-Drive through heavy traffic
-Perform an activity, which you may not wish to be doing, for 8+ houtd
-Drive back home through heavy traffic
-Do all your other errands and chores while tired from working all day
-Have only a few precious hours before going to bed to do what you want to do (i.e., interesting stuff)

That working of your life around your job is just draining, and you know that the only reason you do it is because you need to earn money to continue living your life. While the content of your work may make a big difference, the schedule can be more annoying and frustrating than the job itself, even if you manage to somehow remove a few of those points by having a nontraditional schedule.

I think the pertinent question for any individual becomes, if your job isn't interesting, is it worth living your life that way anyways?

Answer 3

"All work and no play makes John a dull boy" That is the expression my mother taught me. "All play and no work makes John a lazy boy" Too much of anything loses it's excitement. You need both work, and play to gain fulfillment in life.

Money is definitely positive, but the motivator are the bills that arrive in the mail, and the stomach that aches for food.

Fear can be positive or negative. Examples: If you fear animals or are agoraphobic that is negative. If you fear punishment for the results of your actions, and behavior towards society that is a positive fear.

Answer 4

This is the case for most people because most people do not choose a career they love. Some choose careers they are less fond of because they are more lucrative, and others because they are easier to attain (if their desired occupation requires more education sometimes people will give up and settle for a less demanding career). Still others are forced to settle for less than their ideal career when their chosen one fails to provide a large enough income for them to live on (particularly common for various types of creative careers, like art, music, and writing).

Certainly people don't fear the income they make. There is always a risk of losing one's job for failure to perform it adequately, but if a sufficient effort is made at work there is no reason for anyone to be plagued by this fear.

Answer 5

The "trick" is to find employment that never penalizes for "not showing up." It only rewards for "showing up." In other words, if only we could make "existing" profitable, enjoyable, and something we "choose" to do everyday, but are not "required" to do everyday. But, alas, the universe has no "intrinsic" purpose. It's obvious the universe is "not-designed," otherwise, there would be no "negativity" in existence, and none of us would ever have to show up day after day to a job or career that we are "forced" to endure, whether we want to or not...