One of the books I read that helped me finally beat my severe chronic depression has an entire section on engaging work and why it's good for your brain. It's

One of the books I read that helped me finally beat my severe chronic depression has an entire section on engaging work and why it's good for your brain. It's called The Depression Cure by Steve Ilardi and basically the engaging work and any "meaningful activity" can stop your from ruminating and help you feel accomplished. Gardening, fixing things around the house and walking the dog have become part of my "daily treatment" and that among other things has been a game changer. Agree it's like coding flow- the satisfying feeling of inputs and outputs and then being able to look over everything when you're complete and know you left it all on the field.