If you don't ever catch yourself ever thinking, "I can't believe they're really paying me to do this" or if on occasion you don't feel guilty for getting paid to do your job, you're probably in the wrong line of work. You should work in a field that you believe in, that gives you purpose, and that you find meaning in beyond the money, otherwise search elsewhere for "gainful employment."
I'm getting pretty tired of hearing toxic platitudes about doing the least you can at work, like, "Normalize doing the bare minimum at work" or "Beware of working too hard, they punish the performers by giving them more of a work load." If you love your vocation, you will devote yourself to it regardless of what your co-workers do or don't do -- if you don't love it, you'll end being miserable no matter how well you are compensated or how little effort you or anyone else puts in.
Poor management and overbearing leadership are not excuses for you to do less while you're on the clock. In fact, doing less and whining about work equally brings down morale.
I'm a capitalist, I do not think either socialism or communism works, so do not misunderstand me but you should work with all of your heart when you are on the job without thinking about the money. Yes, yes, yes we should be compensated well for our efforts, but expending our energy and putting in our time has to be about more than the money or the boss or the coworkers or the clients or the customers, it should be about the fact that our vocation is what gets our feet out of the bed in the morning and we can't fall asleep the night before because we are so excited about our work.
Your vocation/occupation should thrill you and excite you to the point that even when you are vacation you look forward to getting back to work. If your work doesn't captivate your heart & soul to the point you are almost consumed by it, you are missing out in life. Think about it, we spend most of our adult life working, so it only makes sense to find a job we love.
If your work doesn't motivate you based on its own merits, please find something more fulfilling, for yourself and those around you. If you do a job you hate and it's making you miserable, you'll never be happy on your off hours. Find work you enjoy and life becomes more enjoyable.
