From Preface

Why Our World does not Exist without Invisible Work

From the moment you wake up, there’s work to be done. Your anticipation of that work may start with checking your phone for emails that arrived during your shoehorned four-hour rest. Or rummaging through your closet to find that perfect outfit. Or recalling that it is your turn again to pick up the donuts for the office. Or frantically remembering today is your child’s picture day and no one else remembered or ironed their shirt last night. Some tasks become so routine you might not even see them as work anymore. Sorry to inform you: it’s still work. If it takes up space in your thoughts, takes time to achieve, and makes a difference for someone, it’s work, and every inch of your life is riddled with a call to action. Relationships, investments, ownerships, and hobbies are work. Families, friendships, colleagues, neighbors, pets, and children also take work.

This work is an essential part of the lives that we have created for ourselves, our families, and our communities. Knowing its value, we want to bring the weight of this work out of the shadows. Work is not always seen. In fact, what we set out to reveal in this book is how the unseen, the gaps, the unnoticed, and the expected invisible work have consequences. It also reaps gratification when the work is seen, when the work is valued, and when the work is appreciated. Work impacts our everyday life. While the impact can be relatively minor if unnoticed for a short period of time, how long can we maintain that level of work? How long can we manage inevitable frustration? The frustration toward your partner for not recognizing your work for always planning the vacations, the frustration with your colleagues for always relying on you for the celebration cards, or the frustration toward your friends for always expecting you to be the social planner. Irritating, certainly. Unnoticeable, undoubtedly.