Would you rather have less work to do, or more work you actually enjoy doing?

I would say that Sonya Williams has said all that needs to be said on the subject, except to say that the line that "If I am enjoying the work, it will not feel like work." is an explanation that needs to go into everyone's PLAN for job finding.
It does not mean that everyone can walk into their "ideal job" and "just do it" as Nike likes to say, but it does mean that if your dream is to be a veterinarian, get a job at an animal hospital and see if it really is what you thought it was. The "fun" part of "being a vet" may not be as much fun as you imagined. Perhaps it is the handling, feeding and day to day care of the animals that really appeals to you. Don't "waste" 7 years of college preparing for a job you only think you'd like. Maybe it was just the "getting wealthy" part of being a vet that appealed to you, in which case being a real estate investor, or stock broker might really be the "fun" kind of work you'd like because you can see each day's efforts contributing to those "big payoff" days when your commission checks come in.

"Find work you love and it won't seem like work" is really GREAT advice, but not as easy to do as it sounds, especially with less education. The fast route to the job you like is to stay in school as long as you can afford it.

Sincerely,

Stafford "Doc" Williamson
http://daochienergy.com

If you call what you do 'work' you probably would vote for less hours, same pay.

If you do something that is valued by others, that you enjoy doing you probably would say I wish the day had more hours so I could do more of what I love doing.

Definitely more work I enjoy doing. I love keeping busy and learning new things, and I've always made sure I'm doing what I love.

When I was part of the corporate world, I worked about 45 hours a week with really great pay. I chose to become my own boss and now I work about 70 hours a week with significantly less pay, and I'm the happiest I've ever been!

Amen to Sonya's and Stafford's comments.

I have always been fortunate that no matter whether I was providing a service or a product, I was gettin paid for doing "my hobby". If you don't enjoy what you are doing in your life, why are you doing it? Get out of your attitude that everything is about money and start moving towards self realization.

I'd always prefer to do more, so i can learn more, as one lifetime isn't even enough to learn things worth learning... :)

I am pretty certain that I will never represent a better form of media in Charlotte than WFAE 90.7FM, an outstanding NPR News public radio station, but my favorite job ever (with Community School of the Arts) paid about half as much and took 50% more of my time to do each week. I went to work each morning with a smile on my face and a song in my heart, so the answer is clearly "more work you actually enjoy doing."

Knowing that I could make a difference everyday and have a positive impact on the lives of kids and families was all the reward I needed. By volunteering for NC Outward Bound School, I have found a way to have both a fairly lucrative career and a very rewarding means to give back to the community, so they are not mutually exclusive endeavors.

I agree with everything said except Stafford's comment about formal education. Often times finding your passion is a matter of discovery that can be found only through a variety of experiences and may not even be something that is normally taught in formal education. What you may think is your passion is something that, during formal education, you discover is something you find is not your passion at all. If often takes other experiences to determine your own passion and not one that was pushed on you by parents, culture, school counselors and/or society.

That's an easy one for me. I love what I do, but would like to have more of it. About 18 months ago I contracted a weird disease called neurosarcoidosis. It mimics a spinal cord injury and can attack the central nervous system almost anywhere. Among other things, it has left me bedridden and unable to commute to a more traditional office so that for the first time since 1968, I am technically unemployed.

The upside is that I am also fortunate enough to have six wonderful young daughters, ages 13 down to 6, and an amazing wife. While I am constantly working to expand my home-office business, I am delighted to be here to love, care for, and watch our girls grow.

I love the work I do at all levels and will take on additional appropriate clients until I have to holler "Whoa!"

So lets take a look here; more work I like doing v's less work.

At the moment my "dance card" (aka diary) is replete with about 45 hours per week of what I like to do. Then it has about another 15 to 20 hours of things I don't really enjoy.

My reality filter says; there will always be work I must do that I won't or don't enjoy - fact of life. Think of it being like owning a dog - soon or later you have to pick the crap up and may ultimately have to put the poor beast down. Lots of love along the way that you hope outweighs the downside, if you like.

As you can see from my dance card analysis, about 30% of my time is allocated to "picking up the crap". More than enough employment hours are already allocated to the things I enjoy most in my job.

This basis, instead of giving a hypothetical "I can do anything as long as I enjoy it" (including working a zillion hours) answer, I will tell you I want to work less.

I want to take back the extra 25 hours per week and give it to my family, friends and to doing something for myself.

You know the kind of stuff that the text book told us when we're doing our MBA that would make us feel more motivated and therefore more efficient at work - I think we referred to it as "work life balance" or something like that.

Remember happiness is relative, and happiness and honesty with yourself go hand in hand!

So lets take a look here; more work I like doing v's less work.

At the moment my "dance card" (aka diary) is replete with about 45 hours per week of what I like to do. Then it has about another 15 to 20 hours of things I don't really enjoy.

My reality filter says; there will always be work I must do that I won't or don't enjoy - fact of life. Think of it being like owning a dog - soon or later you have to pick the crap up and may ultimately have to put the poor beast down. Lots of love along the way that you hope outweighs the downside, if you like.

As you can see from my dance card analysis, about 30% of my time is allocated to "picking up the crap". More than enough employment hours are already allocated to the things I enjoy most in my job.

This basis, instead of giving a hypothetical "I can do anything as long as I enjoy it" (including working a zillion hours) answer, I will tell you I want to work less.

I want to take back the extra 25 hours per week and give it to my family, friends and to doing something for myself.

You know the kind of stuff that the text book told us when we're doing our MBA that would make us feel more motivated and therefore more efficient at work - I think we referred to it as "work life balance" or something like that.

Remember happiness is relative, and happiness and honesty with yourself go hand in hand!

I agree with Gary. If pay/benefits were equal I would want to spend less time at work and participate in my hobbies with friends and/or a partner that I get to pick. Even if you loved your work you might not like everything about your job like that vendor, boss, customer, etc that you have to deal with. If I have to work 45 hours a week at a job I love but I have to spend 20 hours of that time working with a boss I hate then love will soon turn to like and then maybe even dread. I would rather work part-time, etc for the same pay and have time off to enjoy the sun, activities, etc with spouse, kids, friends, whatever.

SIMPLE------Follow your HEARTS Passion (not your Minds) as it is the fuel to let you get the work done in a very healthy fashion-----as without your health--"You can't Show UP"

Thank you all for your GREAT comments! Wow, plenty of opinions and insights! This is really a controversial question, but the bottomline is, for as far as I see it, that one needs to be able to balance work and personal life. Undoubtedly, we spend most of our lifetime at work, and it would be great to be able to do what we LOVE doing. However, even if it's something really exciting one shouldn't forget about one's personal life, family and friends, hobbies. So, whatever you do in life, enjoy it!

Maybe its just my generation - the jaded early Gen-X (born late 60's); but it is an emotive discussion point...no doubt in part fuelled by philosophical view points about fulfilling ones vocation, work-life balance and hapiness in general.

The honest truth though; is that if everybody only followed their dreams there'd be a whole heap of vacant positions and an absolute glut of specialist consultants (esp. management consultants).

Perhaps we have this already, to some extent, and its why the generalists are being paid increasingly more by corporations, and so many consulting areas are not (nb I acknowledge some very highly specialised consultants are reaping it in too).

The generalists are being asked to do more and more though - and I assume like me many are MBA qualified with supporting degrees and our personal education had told us that we can make a difference in the work-life balance stakes.

What remains as a startling reminder that management is tough to me is the fact that so many "success" and "hapiness" text's have been produced by so many authors over the years its hard to find a single tome on just surviving without paying a big price - health, wealth, happiness, marriage, kids, you!!!

When you are doing work you love, it isn't considered work.

it will be definitely less work as I value my time.

more work I actually enjoy doing