How do you deal with the fact you have to work for a living, and the psychological pressure of that?

It seems like you are mentioning two different things in your post: having to work to live, and living living paycheck to paycheck. There's quite a big difference in between the two. Of course, it would be nice not to work at all, but our life also depends from people who work. The builders that built our houses, nurses, doctors, tube drivers and, in a less direct way, software engineers, scientists ... and just about any occupation that supports the operation of a business that ultimately delivers value to us. I'd obviously like to spend my time sipping piña coladas and browsing Reddit on a tropical beach but, considering that our generation is among the most comfortable in history, I consider the amount of work I do pretty fair game, never to worry about food, water, education, physical safety, health (within reason), ecc ... As per living paycheck to paycheck it is definitely quite tough. I am lucky enough to always have been able to put quite a bit of money aside every month and I never had to worry about *truly* running out of money, but I definitely sympathise with you. I was laid off this winter, and spent two months without working and, even if I could afford it, seeing my bank balance going down without any source of income definitely stressed me out. Is there any chance you can find some way to reduce expenses, or try to increase your income through a promotion or switching jobs?