Kill the passion for work

Follow your passion. It is a platitude that falls freely from the lips of career advisers and businessmen. Take entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson's advice that: "Since 80 per cent of your life is spent working, you should start your business around something that is a passion." The sharing economy makes a virtue of turning hobbies into start-ups. I mean the likes of Etsy and YouTube, not Airbnb or Uber, though perhaps cleaning your flat in preparation for the arrival of a guest, or driving in fume-filled city centres might be some people's idea of fun. The magazine Fast Company earlier this month advised readers how to turn a passion into profit. I hear it all the time when I interview people about their working lives.

I find this talk of passion in the workplace rather disturbing. Such emotions are for the bedroom surely?

When I left university, finding my footing on the career ladder, I had soaked up these platitudes. One of my happiest pastimes was watching television. So I tried my hand at researching documentaries. I didn't last long. Aside from the insecure, short-term contracts and the cut-throat competition, it ruined my downtime. Instead of relaxing, I dissected my favourite programmes' production values or the merits of its interviewees.

A football-fanatic friend tried a stint as a football reporter. He gave it up for the energy industry; not just for the money. Making a career out of his favourite pursuit turned out to be a total buzzkill.

Joanna Biggs, in her recent book All Day Long: A Portrait of Britain at Work , felt worried by people's talk of love for their jobs. "It felt as if work was becoming more insecure on one hand, and the work ethic increasingly revered on the other."

It also signifies the encroachment of work on life. If your passion becomes your work, what time does it leave for undiluted passion?

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