# Solving a Work Problem ## Metadata - Author: [[Virginia Valian]] ## Article ![[Valian - Solving A Work Problem.pdf]] ## Highlights > How do people determine if they have work? If they have work, how do they decide if they have a work problem? Here the notion of “true self” comes into have a conception, however implicit and unarticulated, of who they “really” are, which I am calling true self and which others may call identity. In my view, work fulfills the true self, whereas a job does not. Thus many people do not have what I call work.-A work problem is a problem in doing labor that would fulfill the true self. It occurs when one’s behavior is at odds with one’s self-concept. (In quite a different sphere, love also fulfills the true self and is prone to similar problems.) >Five important features characterized Program II in its final form, arrived. at after much experimentation and modification: (1) the ally system of having weekly conferences about the previous week’s work and the upcoming week; (2) keeping a work log; (3) having a master schedule and weekly schedule; (4) working two hours a day except on unusually heavy days; (5) working on one project at a time. It is important that I emphasize at the outset that we took an experimental approach. M and I tailored the details to fit us. They will thus not necessarily fit everyone else.