In the Face of Chaotic Upheaval...Work?

"Arguably, more than we realize. When we go to the grocery store, for example, it's likely that we leave our residences believing that we'll return and our belongings will be there waiting for us. It's also a good bet that when we've spent time with a friend and left their company, we think we'll see them again in the future."

"And yet, life is the same, until it isn't. The philosopher David Hume wrote that we incorrectly assume what the future will bring based on what's happened before. It's known as the problem of induction. The philosopher Bertrand Russell also wrote about the problem of induction. He essentially said that although it's reasonable to make predictions of the future based on the past, what's happened before isn't absolutely, definitively certain to happen again."

"You go to Trader Joe's expecting to find the delicious knife-cut noodles they always have, and your taste buds cry out in displeasure when they're not there one day (uh, not that I would know anything about that). Other examples are colossal. The COVID-19 pandemic taught us that. It overturned life as a whole. In the face of enormous change and upheaval, could work offer an anchor of steadiness and consistency?"

Researchers examined how experiencing a sense of normalcy in work relates to emotional reactions during major disruption. A sense of normalcy was defined as continuity and stability amid upheaval. The analysis focused on the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and measured feelings such as upset and nervousness. A stronger sense of normalcy through work at pandemic onset correlated with lower levels of upset and nervousness for many people. The relationship was not universal; for some individuals work activities undermined rather than supported a sense of normalcy, and work-related routines could exacerbate emotional distress in certain circumstances.

Read at Psychology Today