How to make work more human? Quantify the heart we put into it:

Emotional labor is available to all of us, but is rarely exploited as a competitive advantage. We spend the time and energy trying to perfect our craft, but we don’t focus on the skills and interactions that will allow us to stand out and become indispensable to our organization.

Emotional labor was originally seen as a bad thing, a drain on the psyche…[but] the alternative is working in a coal mine. The alternative is working in a sweatshop. It’s called work because it’s difficult, and emotional labor is the work most of us are suited to do. It may be exhausting, but it’s valuable.

I see two ways to view the requirement for emotional labor: first, cynically, as a kind of method acting we all play, a performance not unlike the self-conscious ticks of adolescent girls. Or, you could see it more productively as being a better human: as engaging your emotions with others, and expecting theirs in return; as refusing to embrace the role of automaton. I like the sound of that.