A short personal essay from 0xFF on leaving the corporate rat race, arguing that companies use perks to keep employees on a 'happiness treadmill' while treating them as replaceable, and pointing to remote-first, asynchronous companies like Todoist, 37signals and Linear as proof that flexible work functions fine.
P.S. If you need to relax, why not visit the Koi Pond?
Companies are trying to redefine our understanding of what happiness means to us, instead putting us on a treadmill with a ‘happiness’ carrot in front of it, and all that you have to do is to not fall off the fucking thing while they increase the speed.
And when (not if) you will stumble or fall, that “we’re a family here” thing you saw in your onboarding doc? The one that’s right next to that fancy acronym that somehow translates into their “values”? That will mean absolutely fucking nothing, and you will be replaced in a heartbeat by someone else they’ll try to shape into a “10x engineer”.
They are doing their best to make you more happy at work — a nicer, more decorated office, a better-stocked kitchen with 5 decaf options, a gym 50 meters away from your desk, a taller, shinier building, somewhere to shove your offspring during summer break so you don’t have to “worry your pretty head about that” — More this… Better that. More happiness = more productivity, after all.
And you know what? They’re doing a great job, because to most people, being more happy became the result of having more, or better positives, whether they’re real or projected, instead of focusing on reducing the negatives.
All you have to do is give in. Be more happy. Be more successful. Strive for more. Do more, not less. Don’t question anything.
Today as always, men fall into two groups: slaves and free men. Whoever does not have two-thirds of his day for himself, is a slave, whatever he may be: a statesman, a businessman, an official, or a scholar.
They get what they want, and you, well… you get what they want you to think that you should get.
It doesn’t have to be like this.
Open your eyes and realize the stress they tell you is “part of the game” is not worth it. You can do less, you can be boring and still be happy.
You can do the things you like. You can do the things you “never have time for”. You can be with your family. You can meet up with your friends or spend your day at the beach.
The ask? Follow your own dream, not theirs.
Places like Todoist are the proof — remote-first, asynchronous AND allowing you to set up your work schedule. 37Signals does it too. And so does Linear.
The best part? It works and nothing fucking burnt down. Any company can make it work, if only they wanted to.
