Page 91 - Morgan Housel - The Psychology of Money_ Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness-Harriman House Limited (2020)

like free time or leisure hours to most people, he was constantly working in
his mind, thinking problems through.
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This was unique in his day. Almost all jobs during Rockefeller’s time
required doing things with your hands. In 1870, 46% of jobs were in

agriculture, and 35% were in crafts or manufacturing, according to
economist Robert Gordon. Few professions relied on a worker’s brain. You
didn’t think; you labored, without interruption, and your work was visible
and tangible.

Today, that’s flipped.

Thirty-eight percent of jobs are now designated as “managers, officials, and
professionals.” These are decision-making jobs. Another 41% are service
jobs that often rely on your thoughts as much as your actions.

More of us have jobs that look closer to Rockefeller than a typical 1950s
manufacturing worker, which means our days don’t end when we clock out

and leave the factory. We’re constantly working in our heads, which means
it feels like work never ends.

If your job is to build cars, there is little you can do when you’re not on the
assembly line. You detach from work and leave your tools in the factory.
But if your job is to create a marketing campaign—a thought-based and
decision job—your tool is your head, which never leaves you. You might be

thinking about your project during your commute, as you’re making dinner,
while you put your kids to sleep, and when you wake up stressed at three in
the morning. You might be on the clock for fewer hours than you would in
1950. But it feels like you’re working 24/7.

Derek Thompson of The Atlantic once described it like this:

If the operating equipment of the 21st century is a portable device, this
means the modern factory is not a place at all. It is the day itself. The
computer age has liberated the tools of productivity from the office. Most
knowledge workers, whose laptops and smartphones are portable all-