We spend a lot of our time at work and would be depressed with nothing to do. But when it gets to Monday, many of us are already longing for the weekend and the prospect of escape. How did work become so tedious and stressful? And is there anything we can do to make it better? Based on his popular Economist Bartleby column, Philip Coggan rewrites the rules of work to help us survive the daily grind. Ranging widely, he encourages us to cut through mindless jargon, pointless bureaucracy and endless meetings to find a new, more creative - and less frustrating - way to get by and get on at work. Incisive, original, and endlessly droll, this is the guide for beleaguered underlings and harried higher-ups alike. As Rousseau might have said: "Man was born free, but is everywhere stuck in a meeting." If you've ever thought there must be a better way, this is the book for you.

Praise for Philip Coggan: 'How did humanity transform the world over the last 10,000 years? Philip Coggan provides a comprehensive and lucid account -- Martin Wolf * FT books of summer 2020 *
This is economics entertainingly and expertly demystified ... One of the best financial journalists of his generation -- James Kirkup * Times *
Big and timely ... Coggan's account of the rise of the world economy is accessible and mercifully free of jargon * Sunday Times *

Philip Coggan is the former writer of the Bartleby and Buttonwood columns for The Economist. He previously worked for the FT for 20 years. His other books include The Money Machine, The Economist Guide to Hedge Funds and More, also published by Profile. More was an FT Book of the Summer 2020.