Part of our problem is that we work more. But the other problem is that the hours when we’re not technically working never feel free from optimization—either of the body, the mind, or one’s social status. The word leisure comes from the Latin licere, variously translated as “to be permitted or “or to be free.” Leisure, then, is time you are allowed to do what you’d like, free from the compunction to generate value. But when all hours can be theoretically converted to more work, the hours when you’re not working feel like a lost opportunity, or just an abject failure.
