Here’s Why People Work Like Crazy, Even When They Already Have Everything They Need

Business Insider:

In a recent talk, Google CEO Larry Page raised a radical notion: We all might be working much harder than is necessary.

“The idea that everyone needs to work frantically to meet people’s needs is just not true,” he said, pointing to recent advances in technology that have made meeting humanity’s basic needs much easier.

Some people work hard to pay rent, to put food on the table, because they enjoy it, or — in rare cases — because the job really demands it. But what about everyone else, those who earn more than they need and still run themselves ragged, often working to the point of misery?

Christopher K. Hsee, a professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, has looked at this very question. The basic hypothesis is that people work until they are beat, instead of working until they have “enough.” That means it’s the highest white-collar earners who are likeliest to work far more than is really necessary.

Read the whole story: Business Insider