The True Reason We Toil So Much episode artwork

EPISODE · Jun 16, 2026 · 3 MIN

The True Reason We Toil So Much

from The School of Life · host tscol

We work as we do because – of course – we need to; because nothing is cheap, because the bills are incessant; because of all the good and wise and sensible reasons that we’ve been highly aware of since mid adolescence at least. But that is too neat and we know it deep down; we know that there is also – alongside this – something more complicated that we use the idea of necessity to avoid. Enjoying our Youtube videos? Get full access to all our audio content, videos, and thousands of thought-provoking articles, conversation cards and more with The School of Life Subscription: https://www.theschooloflife.com/the-school-of-life-youtube/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=Why%20we%20work%20as%20hard%20as%20we%20do Learn, heal and grow. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: https://www.theschooloflife.com/signup/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=Why%20we%20work%20as%20hard%20as%20we%20do FURTHER READING You can read more on this and other subjects in our articles, here: https://www.theschooloflife.com/article/why-do-we-work-so-hard/#:~:text=We%20work%20as%20we%20do,since%20mid%20adolescence%20at%20least.?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=Why%20we%20work%20as%20hard%20as%20we%20do “We work as we do because – of course – we need to; because nothing is cheap, because the bills are incessant; because of all the good and wise and sensible reasons that we’ve been highly aware of since mid adolescence at least. But that is too neat and we know it deep down; we know that there is also – alongside this – something more complicated that we use the idea of necessity to avoid…” MORE SCHOOL OF LIFE Watch more films on SELF in our playlist: http://bit.ly/TSOLself SOCIAL MEDIA Feel free to follow us at the links below: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theschooloflifelondon/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheSchoolOfLife Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theschooloflifelondon/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-school-of-life-for-business/ CREDITS Produced in collaboration with: Mike Booth https://www.youtube.com/somegreybloke Title animation produced in collaboration with Graeme Probert www.gpmotion.co.uk https://drive.google.com/file/d/1idvq4Wi8osIMgab1JjX66gNROyp5t2g5/view?usp=sharing work-life balance, motivation, career advice, productivity, purpose in life, happiness at work, financial independence, time management, success mindset, hidden reasons we work hard, why do we work so much, rethinking work ethic, finding meaning in work, beyond the paycheck, is hard work worth it, is there more to life than work, chasing your dreams, work-life balance tips, how to find purpose in your work Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We work as we do because – of course – we need to; because nothing is cheap, because the bills are incessant; because of all the good and wise and sensible reasons that we’ve been highly aware of since mid adolescence at least. But that is too neat and we know it deep down; we know that there is also – alongside this – something more complicated that we use the idea of necessity to avoid. Enjoying our Youtube videos? Get full access to all our audio content, videos, and thousands of thought-provoking articles, conversation cards and more with The School of Life Subscription: https://www.theschooloflife.com/the-school-of-life-youtube/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=Why%20we%20work%20as%20hard%20as%20we%20do Learn, heal and grow. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: https://www.theschooloflife.com/signup/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=Why%20we%20work%20as%20hard%20as%20we%20do FURTHER READING You can read more on this and other subjects in our articles, here: https://www.theschooloflife.com/article/why-do-we-work-so-hard/#:~:text=We%20work%20as%20we%20do,since%20mid%20adolescence%20at%20least.?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=Why%20we%20work%20as%20hard%20as%20we%20do “We work as we do because – of course – we need to; because nothing is cheap, because the bills are incessant; because of all the good and wise and sensible reasons that we’ve been highly aware of since mid adolescence at least. But that is too neat and we know it deep down; we know that there is also – alongside this – something more complicated that we use the idea of necessity to avoid…” MORE SCHOOL OF LIFE Watch more films on SELF in our playlist: http://bit.ly/TSOLself SOCIAL MEDIA Feel free to follow us at the links below: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theschooloflifelondon/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheSchoolOfLife Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theschooloflifelondon/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-school-of-life-for-business/ CREDITS Produced in collaboration with: Mike Booth https://www.youtube.com/somegreybloke Title animation produced in collaboration with Graeme Probert www.gpmotion.co.uk https://drive.google.com/file/d/1idvq4Wi8osIMgab1JjX66gNROyp5t2g5/view?usp=sharing work-life balance, motivation, career advice, productivity, purpose in life, happiness at work, financial independence, time management, success mindset, hidden reasons we work hard, why do we work so much, rethinking work ethic, finding meaning in work, beyond the paycheck, is hard work worth it, is there more to life than work, chasing your dreams, work-life balance tips, how to find purpose in your work Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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The True Reason We Toil So Much

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This episode was published on June 16, 2026.

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We work as we do because – of course – we need to; because nothing is cheap, because the bills are incessant; because of all the good and wise and sensible reasons that we’ve been highly aware of since mid adolescence at least. But that is too neat...

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