I understand the importance of reducing burnout, but I wonder if, as a movement, we aren’t placing too much emphasis on reducing burnout compared to pushing ourselves to do more. Anecdotally, I see more EA articles about self care than pushing oneself to do more. I can see why there are some publicity benefits of reducing burden when it comes to attracting new people to the movement, but when it comes to discussing within the community, my guess is the EV of pushing oneself to do more is positive for most people in the movement.
As an example how we may be doing too little on the average, only around 23% of those who revealed their donations in the 2014 EA survey. donated at least 10% of their income. Obviously there’s more ways to be an EA than donating and many of these individuals are students, but it does suggest that many people can push themselves a lot harder. I would be surprised if most people needed more than 90% of their salaries for adequate self care. I think we need to strike a balance between self care/pushing ourselves harder, but my suspicions are that we should move in the latter direction. I would love to find more concrete evidence either way though.
Maybe that means there should be more focus on personal finance and working out how to be happier on less. It could also mean people are at the beginning of the careers and it will get much easier to give 10% after pay rises. Is there a question on the EA survey about if there is a change in the percentage/amount given between years?
Also it could be that people need to push themselves smarter rather than harder. Spending an extra ten hours in the office a week might not give the same return on spending those outside of work on other activities.
Not that people can’t push themselves harder, but we need to think about what that entails.
Hit the nail on the head. Especially considering how tenuous the relation between money and happiness is. I have honestly not seen a single article or even social media post (by anyone except me) describing ways to improve your mental propensity to sacrifice wealth.
I think you’re probably right on this when it comes to donations as it’s less likely that less money would necessarily mean less sleep or time with friends. However, the article seems to be talking more about working, whether that means in a high paid job with long hours, volunteering in all of your spare time or working long hours in an EA role you love. You’re still probably right that many people can push themselves more than they currently are. Any suggestions on how to identify where the line is for an individual would be really interesting to discuss.
I think the right way to do it is to try things out and see what you can do. It’s well known that we can’t easily predict the careers we’ll enjoy or the way our interests will change in the future. The same thing applies when thinking about what would be too demanding.
I understand the importance of reducing burnout, but I wonder if, as a movement, we aren’t placing too much emphasis on reducing burnout compared to pushing ourselves to do more. Anecdotally, I see more EA articles about self care than pushing oneself to do more. I can see why there are some publicity benefits of reducing burden when it comes to attracting new people to the movement, but when it comes to discussing within the community, my guess is the EV of pushing oneself to do more is positive for most people in the movement.
As an example how we may be doing too little on the average, only around 23% of those who revealed their donations in the 2014 EA survey. donated at least 10% of their income. Obviously there’s more ways to be an EA than donating and many of these individuals are students, but it does suggest that many people can push themselves a lot harder. I would be surprised if most people needed more than 90% of their salaries for adequate self care. I think we need to strike a balance between self care/pushing ourselves harder, but my suspicions are that we should move in the latter direction. I would love to find more concrete evidence either way though.
Maybe that means there should be more focus on personal finance and working out how to be happier on less. It could also mean people are at the beginning of the careers and it will get much easier to give 10% after pay rises. Is there a question on the EA survey about if there is a change in the percentage/amount given between years?
Also it could be that people need to push themselves smarter rather than harder. Spending an extra ten hours in the office a week might not give the same return on spending those outside of work on other activities.
Not that people can’t push themselves harder, but we need to think about what that entails.
Hit the nail on the head. Especially considering how tenuous the relation between money and happiness is. I have honestly not seen a single article or even social media post (by anyone except me) describing ways to improve your mental propensity to sacrifice wealth.
I think you’re probably right on this when it comes to donations as it’s less likely that less money would necessarily mean less sleep or time with friends. However, the article seems to be talking more about working, whether that means in a high paid job with long hours, volunteering in all of your spare time or working long hours in an EA role you love. You’re still probably right that many people can push themselves more than they currently are. Any suggestions on how to identify where the line is for an individual would be really interesting to discuss.
I think the right way to do it is to try things out and see what you can do. It’s well known that we can’t easily predict the careers we’ll enjoy or the way our interests will change in the future. The same thing applies when thinking about what would be too demanding.