Ted Audio Collective.

Audio Collective.

You're listening to How to Be a Better Human.

I'm your host Chris Duffy.

When I worked in an elementary school, I experienced so many very weird things that were very specific to being a teacher.

For example, I remember the year after I left teaching being absolutely astonished that I could just go to the bathroom

whenever I wanted and I didn't have to run back in a dead sprint praying that full chaos hadn't

interrupted while I was gone. What a wild luxury. Or now as a comedian, I never stopped being amazed by the fact that sometimes I'm paid in money for my work, and other times I do the exact same work, and I'm paid in drink tickets. Exact same effort, very different reward.

At the end of the day, though, there really is not any such thing as a normal job.

All workplaces have their idiosyncrasies and their quirks.

So how can we make sure that whatever the job you do... places have their idiosyncrasies and their quirks.

So how can we make sure that whatever the job you do,

you leave work every day with dignity, with respect,

with fair compensation, and with energy for the rest of your life?

In my opinion, nobody dives into these issues

in a more nuanced, thoughtful, and approachable way

than today's guest, Anne Helen Peterson.

Here's a clip where she's talking about this new world

of remote work and her own experience in it.

What remote and flexible work allows you to do is that previously our lives absolutely

revolved around work.

Work was the sun. You're the planets going around it. And now I feel like work

...