[AndrewKemendo]

If I was in a job I hated and had to do it to live, then that is one thing, in which case I would try to spend as little time working as possible. I think most people are in this situation, so it makes sense in that regard.

As a general ethos though, I don't get it. I don't want to be doing something that doesn't fully engage me. I quit my cushy government job last year to go full in on our startup and while the hours are something like 12-15 hour days, it doesn't feel like work most of the time. So in this sense I don't really get the idea of "work-life balance" because the work I am doing is what I want my life to be.

It seems like the idea of having your "life's work" is a luxury or alternatively something that slightly insane people have. In the cases where it works and the vision is big enough you get these outsized figures who do amazing things. Why anyone would choose otherwise - I don't really understand.

[Sharlin]

There's a continuum of positions between "hating your job" and "living and breathing your job". Many of us like our jobs very much thank you, but we also have other things we want to do. Besides, not everybody can be productive doing something 12 hours a day (or even 8!) even if we love it when we do. I love dancing but I still only do it a few hours per week. You should try not to generalize from a single point of data (yourself).

[AndrewKemendo]

No generalization, I'm simply stating that I don't understand it. Agree with you however that the desire to work is probably normally distributed.