Work or Play: What should I do with my 20s?

Overview

The constant message I hear from people older and wiser than me is to spend my 20s either working or playing.

Either gather as much experience and knowledge as possible, or have as much fun as possible. Both of these are pretty extreme, as we will dive into later, but I want to address the pros and cons of both these viewpoints to help provide better context for how to best navigate our 20s.

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Work or play: Pros of work

Working hard is a classic western value. And something that I would imagine, if you’re reading this, is that you’re very familiar with the American hard-work ethic and “hustle” culture.

I live in a time and place where work life is the most important thing, and thus, creates the most monetary success. There’s a reason that 8 out of the 10 richest people in the world are American.

Gain experience, and therefore wisdom

If not the most important reason, this is the at least a top 3 of why people push for working in their 20s.

Gaining experience is what sets a person apart from their competitors more than anything else. You cannot build wealth without experience.

Sure, there are extremely rare cases where people happen to stumble upon wealth (lottery ticket winners, massive inheritance, etc.) but the norm is to build wealth on your own. And wealth is built by learning and doing what works.

You’ll never know what works if you don’t try, fail, and succeed.

Increase pay faster (potentially)

Working hard almost always comes with a pay increase. I’m not arguing that making money is the most important thing (because it’s not), but there is something to be said for making a comfortable living. If building wealth is important to you, work is a good path to consider.

I add “potentially” because it is definitely possible to work super hard and never see financial growth.

The only people in this world who work extremely hard and don’t make more money are either slaves to themselves or someone else. 

Gain responsibility and credibility

A great pro of dialing in on work in your 20s is that you gain more responsibility, and therefore credibility.

This is awesome because people tend to look to you for answers, and by the time you hit 30, you’ll have built a nice name for yourself, which you can then capitalize on.

Creates good work habits earlier in life

Setting yourself up for success has to come with failure. The earlier you fail, the earlier you succeed.

Doing some failing in your 20s does a number on setting you up for success as it helps you learn valuable lessons which will take you to the next level.

I’m 23, and by no means am trying to make an argument that I know everything. What I have found is that getting a system that works well for me is extremely helpful in task management, goal-setting, and accountability to myself.

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Work or play: Cons of work

Let’s be honest, working hard can just plain suck. It’s not always fun to show up to the office, especially when you’re running on low sleep or haven’t eaten well the past few days. There are several reasons why spending your 20s working isn’t ideal, but I’ll just lay out a few.

Less time to spend with loved ones (potentially)

This is arguably the strongest argument AGAINST hustling in your 20s. Most people see work as either Jesus or the Devil, and because of that, we either abstain from it or sell our soul to it.

This causes major rifts in family dynamics, and especially if you’re married (like me) or have kids (not like me), working all the time can absolutely destroy your quality of life for you and your loved ones.

I say “potentially” because just like anything else in life, moderation is key.

You are actually capable of being done with work for the day.

I’m not sure if you’re aware of this or not, but you actually can go home and not think about work. Just go try it sometime, and then comment how it went!

Drains mental/physical capacity

Working is exhausting. It takes a ton of mental energy.

This is assuming, of course, that you work in the knowledge work industry. If your job is hands-on, it’s physically exhausting. Just like how grinding away at spreadsheets or emails all day deteriorates your brain, landscaping breaks down your body.

At the end of the week, you’re so exhausted you just want to sleep, just to realize you’re back to the grind next week.

Puts time constraint on doing fun things

Working all the time makes it really hard to do fun things. Especially in the beginning when you’re not making much money anyway and working so hard, there’s little time or resources to actually do something fun.

People who work 10-12 hour days struggle to put work away and therefore can’t even enjoy a fun activity, mostly because they wake up, work, and go to bed. No wonder people can’t disconnect.

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Work or play: Pros of play

Now we get to the fun one! I don’t think I know one 20-something who doesn’t want to play.

It’s in the human DNA to want the "young and free" years of our lives doing the craziest things we can imagine, even if they aren’t actually that crazy.

I’ve tried to convince my wife that we should buy a van and travel around the U.S. for a year, or go live in Italy, or go sky-diving. I’ve gotten a no to all of those…she keeps me grounded if you can’t tell!

This is the time of your life where you’re starry-eyed and bushy-tailed, and you want to take on the world. That’s great! Let’s dive in.

Lots of space to be with loved ones

You get so much more time and space to be with the people you care most about, and that’s amazing! These can be as simple as going on drives or hitting up the movie theater regularly, or as crazy as jumping in a van and exploring the country. However you take this time, it’s time well-spent.

Regularly making memories

Similar to being with loved ones, you will be making the most of your 20s in terms of memories and experiences. There aren’t many 70-year-olds renovating a bus to visit all the national parks (if there are, I want to see those pictures).

Because we’re so eager, we want to see the world, and we can! There aren’t kids, mortgages, pets (maybe), and other things that folks the next stage up have to deal with, so you have the opportunity to try and see all you can.

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Work or play: Cons of play

I don’t mean to be the bearer of bad news, but there are actually some downsides to the play category. Even though there aren’t AS MANY responsibilities, there still are some.

Neglecting those can have massive consequences that are pretty negative.

Less money in the bank (potentially)

If you’re not working that much, and with no to little experience, odds are that you will have no money at 30. These trips and experiences, while fun, tend to rack up credit card debt.

That’s not so fun.

And because you decided to spend all your time in Cabo or Casablanca (not sure where the C’s are coming from), you probably don’t have a lot of work experience that’s applicable to your future career goals. Wait, what are goals?

I say “potentially” because there is always a chance you do both well! Finding the balance is key. You can also maybe be one of those lottery winners who has the money to fund some awesome excursions early in life. But again, the likelihood of that creating good habits later is scarce.

Putting yourself in bad situations

The riskiest issue with chasing after fun is negative short and long-term consequence.

Wanting all the amazing experiences, while fun and exciting, can cause some pretty crazy things to happen. How many stories have you heard about tourists getting stuck in bad situations because they don’t know where they are. Or maybe someone accidentally getting someone else pregnant or hurting someone, even though they “didn’t mean to”.

I want to stress that while doing all the fun is great, you shouldn’t sacrifice respect for yourself or for others just to get what you want.

Are either of these the right option?

No.

I’m just saying it flat out.

Chasing after either one of these options is a bad idea. You’ll mess your life up if you do. Sure, you’ll get some cool stuff out of it, but what’s that worth if you’re in jail or a horrible marriage?

Think about which side you lean toward, and then maybe lean a little bit more in the other direction.

If you’re more work-driven (like me), you should probably force yourself to have some fun. If you don’t have money, you can absolutely do things for free/cheap! The best part of having fun is using your imagination.

And don’t go in to debt for a little fun. Not worth it.

If you’re more of a fun-seeker, try to lean into your work more. Whether you're a business bro or a grocery store clerk, try putting in some more effort than what you currently are.

Get dressed up, go to work, and give it your all tomorrow! Showing up and putting your best foot forward never hurts, even if nobody sees it.

Conclusion

We've covered a lot, and I hope that you took something helpful from it! I'm continuing to learn more and more about what it means to live a life glorifying to God, while also being a good worker and having fun along the way.

If you found this interesting, please let me know what you liked (or didn't like) in the comments! I'd also love if you could share what you would like me to write about next! Nothing is off the table.

May the God of the universe make His home in your heart today!

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