In the broadest sense, work is any effort that causes something to move against a resistive force. Examples of work would include lifting a heavy load against gravity, pushing a block across the floor against friction, pumping air into a container against atmospheric pressure, and driving an airplane against lift-induced drag. Some people may not consider certain activities to be work, for example playing sports for fun rather than earning a living from the sport. But most activities that require sustained effort and involve some element of planning or expectation are considered to be work.
The act of work requires the exertion of energy, and this effort is measured in units known as newton-meters (Nm). Work is always equal to a force times a displacement, but there are many other quantities that can be used to describe work, such as momentum or elastic potential energy. These other quantities are all defined by different relationships between the force and the displacement.
To determine the amount of work done, three quantities must be known: force, displacement, and the angle between the force and the displacement. The force must be directed towards the object to cause a displacement, and the direction of the displacement must be opposite to the direction of the force. The unit of work is called joule (J), and it is equal to 1 newton-meter times 1 kilogram-meter squared.
Work can be accomplished in any number of ways. Humans have developed all kinds of machines to make the task of moving things faster and easier, including cars, trains, elevators, and washing machines. Machines reduce the amount of work required by reducing the size of the force, changing the distance over which the force is applied, or changing the direction in which the force is applied.
But the simplest form of work is still the one that involves pushing an object against some sort of resistance. When we push a pencil across a table, for instance, the pencil moves downward against the resistance of gravity. The amount of work done is the force applied (the pencil weight) times the distance traveled downward.
People who do good work often enjoy their jobs and are happy with the progress that they’re making. But they also often think about the time that they’re wasting or the ways in which their jobs have jaded them, snuffed out passions, and damaged relationships. The fact is, all kinds of work can change us, even if it’s not the kind that we’d prefer to do. We might become more disciplined, wiser, or skilled through our work; we might gain valuable knowledge and insight; or we might learn to see other people as useful tools rather than as obstacles or threats to our goals. Those are all good things. The important thing is that we do the work that makes us happy. And if that work sometimes makes us feel strange, well, so much the better. All great work has a touch of strangeness.