The Good Enough Job: What We Gain When We Don’t Put Work First

'Superb.' Oliver Burkeman

'An incredibly propulsive read. It will absolutely challenge you, in the best way possible, to change the way you think about work.' Anne Helen Petersen

'A sharp analysis of modern work culture.' Vauhini Vara


The Good Enough Job reminds us that the biggest goal of all is to live a life we are happy with, and in which work is but one of the multitude of facets that make us who we are. An antidote to the toxic #hustle movement convincing us all we need to find fulfilment in the office, it denounces the dangers of burnout linked to those of us who cannot answer the question: beyond work, what's left?

Conversations of burnout have bubbled to the top of the cultural zeitgeist as the line between work and not-work continues to blur. Burnout and workaholism are symptoms of a deeper root cause: a lack of separation between who we are and what we do. This book is not a credo against looking to work for fulfilment, nor is it in favour of treating work as a necessary evil. It is a guide to developing a healthier relationship to work through the stories of people who have successfully done so. These are stories that invite us to re-evaluate what makes us happy, and how we can work to live, rather than the other way round.