[bakuninsbart]

There's many dimensions to this but I think the simplest answer is: Stimulation. I live in a big city where I'm always surrounded by noise, stank and people I don't know. It is never really dark outside. Most of the day I'm staring at a screen, with a window to a huge world of other people. While I have an 8 hour work day, there's an implicit assumption of doing more. And that's not bringing food on the table, including commuting/shopping/cooking, I'm already at an 11 hour day of just grinding. And then it's hard not to compare yourself to people doing better than yourself if there's a million of them around you.