I Quit My Job To Become A Lumberjack

First things first, I didn’t do what the title says 🙂   This is my first attempt at joining the bottom-dwelling world of clickbaity bloggers who use salacious and misleading titles to gain clicks, and probably my last.

If you’re new to my blog this isn’t how I operate, but I figured I try it one time to see how much it actually works.  I expect millions of pageviews, haha.

The good news is there’s a new research study out that says lumberjacks do the happiest and most meaningful work.  The analysis was done by the Washington Post and used extensive time journals from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ American Time Use Survey.  The Post article is here but it’s probably behind a paywall for most. 

It’s created a lot of stir on the internets recently so let’s get into it.

 

Chop Wood, Carry Water

If you can’t get to the Post article the Seattle Times seems to have used most of it and it’s not behind a paywall.  They wrote:

Agriculture, logging and forestry have the highest levels of self-reported happiness – and lowest levels of self-reported stress – of any major industry category, according to our analysis of thousands of time journals from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ American Time Use Survey. (Additional reporting sharpened our focus on lumberjacks and foresters, but almost everyone who works on farms or in forests stands out.)

Bold emphasis mine.  Regular Accidental FIRE readers know I’m an outdoor sports junkie and love nothing more than being in nature, preferably doing a sport and moving my body.  Nature grounds me and revitalizes me.  It makes me feel whole. 

And this study is confirming that it’s true for others.  Again from the Seattle Times article:

We found that while your workplace looms as the single most stressful place in the universe, the great outdoors ranks in the top three for both happiness and meaning – only your place of worship consistently rates higher. Researchers across the social and medical sciences have found a strong link between mental health and green space or being outdoors. Even seeing a tree out your window can help you recover from illness faster. So imagine the boost you get from being right next to said tree – even if, like our friend the lumberjack, you’re in the process of chopping it down. 

In Japan doctors are commonly writing prescriptions for their patients to take a daily walk in the woods, often called nature therapy.  So it only makes sense that those who feel happiest in their jobs work outside.  A quote from a logger in the Seattle Times article:

Even on your worst day – something has broken down and you need to get wood to the mill – the wind’ll blow and you’ll inhale a familiar scent – that pine sap – and it’ll just take you to a place of peace instantly,” Chandler said. “It’s therapy. The woods is therapy, the forest is therapy. You can have the worst day ever but when you get out here? The forest just takes it all away. 

Damn… where do I apply?

 

Insert Lawyer Joke Here

So we’ve covered the happiest from the Post analysis, but who were the least happiest in their jobs? 

Lawyers. 

Ha!  You can’t make this up but it’s true.  The Washington Post even ran a separate opinion article tilted “Want To Be Happy? Then Don’t Be A Lawyer” about this after the main article (again, probably behind a paywall). 

Cal Newport has become famous as a guru at the analysis of how we work.  He’s a multiple bestselling author, a computer science professor at Georgetown, a New Yorker writer, and seemingly has endless jobs and doesn’t sleep.  I reviewed his bestseller “Deep Work” years ago. 

I do enjoy his podcast from time to time, and he discussed the article in a recent podcast.  I’ve clipped out the short segment here:

 

If only lawyers could work outside, haha.  Last year I wrote about my friend Melissa who used to live near me and was one of my best cycling training partners.  She sadly moved away from the D.C. region to Norfolk Virginia, taking a massive pay cut in the process.  But she’s way happier.  No she doesn’t work outside, but she works way less. 

She was a very highly paid K-Street lawyer, and those folks generally work 70 – 80 hours a week or more.  Now she works 40 hours a week as a government lawyer.  I saw her recently and she still says that law isn’t the best job, but having a life besides work is way better than not. 

My guess is she’ll be done with law before she’s 40.  Maybe she’ll join me in becoming a lumberjack.

 

The Tyranny Of Fluorescent Lights

One of the main reasons I gave up my big-whig manager job and went down to 20 hours a work more than 5 years ago was to spend more time being outside and focusing on my health. 

Office jobs that have you sitting all day under fluorescent lights and not moving your body are the opposite of what we humans evolved to do and are horrible for our physical and mental health.  Full stop.

And after a childhood of obesity and trauma I’m committed to focusing on my health until I die, after which I’ll presumably get a reprieve from that task. 

 

The Lumberjack Paradox

So did I quit my job to become a lumberjack as the title says?  No.  Have I ever thought about it?  Yes. 

I often have idyllic dreams of working outside in the woods, building trails or being a park ranger.  The realist in me knows that some of these jobs, such as lumberjack, are for folks in their 20’s and 30’s, and would quickly ravage someone my age.  Maybe, maybe not. 

I do have quite the assortment of flannel shirts and feel I’d show up the first day looking damn good. 

But seriously, the Washington Post article and analysis hammers home a huge truth to me that most white collar knowledge workers know but don’t want to discuss.  Working outdoors – even if the job is less meaningful – would make many of us happier. 

Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going for a run in the woods.