‘I spend little and now save memories’

in

‘I was 17 when I had to defend a thesis for philosophy in high school. I chose: hard work should be tempered. So I thought it was wrongly known as the holy grail at the time. My friends were therefore not surprised when I announced that I was going to work 16 hours a week. “Oh, that’s Terry Nick, he’s going his own way,” they said.

“Three years ago I started working at the insurance company asr after my Artificial Intelligence study. That was a bull’s eye. But it wasn’t until the lockdown started that I realized how important the social component of work was to me. Now that that fell away and my relationship ended, I ended up in a kind of personal crisis. I slept badly and sat in the Teams meeting with a headache.

“My brother asked me what I still liked about work. I answered: the two days a week in which I organize training sessions for colleagues. So he said: then you can arrange that, right? That was suddenly a very clear insight. Of course! I just keep what gives me energy and get rid of the rest. After a few good discussions, asr agreed. Since July my contract has been converted from 38 to 16 hours.

“You would think that I ended up in paradise, but the first two months I mainly felt unrest. That turned out to be all part of kicking my productivity addiction. I got there through meditation. Now I follow where my curiosity goes: hiking, yoga, writing poems, working out business plans. I don’t rule out that I will ever work full-time again, but then I hope that I will experience it differently than before.”

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‘Money was by far which I have doubted the most. I had become attached to the security of a fixed salary. I set out to explore that belief. Why do I think money is more important than the freedom I get in return? Seeing it as a temporary experiment helped me: if I didn’t like it, I could always go back.

“Now it turns out that I broke even with those 1,650 euros. I was never one anyway big spender. I rarely buy new things and don’t eat out very often. It also helped that I moved in with a friend from the summer, which cut the rent in half. Furthermore, I did not have to save or make other choices.

“The only thing that has changed is that I can no longer save. That’s why I’ve decided to save memories. One of these was last September. It was a beautiful summer day and I spontaneously decided to go to the beach. I rented a public transport bicycle at The Hague Central, went cycling for an hour until I found a nice spot. I swam in the sea and then tried the best falafel in town. I find it very valuable that I can give that to myself and enjoy it to the fullest.”