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I think I’ve got some similar experience. I always had underlying focus issues, but managed to excel at school and first job because I really cared. First work

I think I’ve got some similar experience. I always had underlying focus issues, but managed to excel at school and first job because I really cared. First work experiences led me to become pretty cynical about office life, and I find that my motivation ultimately gets sapped because I don’t think what I do is that important. I’ve been soul searching for months about this, including trying a different workplace, etc. The thing is, I know any job can be meaningful—finding meaning in it is something I need to work on. But I’ve also been searching for a path that will better suit my values. Some conclusions: I decided to go back to school, and I’m really good at focusing on school work now, it is much easier to do than making myself work. I wonder if the school work is more motivating because there is the chance for graded feedback though. At work, you never get an A, just “good enough” or “not good enough” plus you don’t have the feeling of working towards a clear goal of the degree. I wonder if your experience has some things in common with mine—maybe grad school was easier to focus on goal and progress, and start up you were fresh to work and excited. I ultimately think I have to find some way to feel that what I do is important to the world. That by working on it, I’m creating something important. The question is how to get to that feeling!

easymodex 6y ago
Where I work it's like if you do a bad job and screw something up everyone notices and it's a whole lot of drama involved, but if you do a good job and fix something before it blows up, no one notices and no one cares. So all the bad without the good. I guess you get used to it after a while but I would love a metaphorical pat on the back and a "good job" every now and then.
- notenoughhorses 6y ago
  I have had two bad workplaces and one good one. The best I saw, at the good one, was that if something went wrong, we would figure out WHY and how to prevent ourselves from doing this in the future (constructive approach). The bad places, everyone was about pointing fingers at other people (the worst being those reviewers who blamed first years!) and yelling / lecturing but not problem-solving why the workflow allowed this problem to arise. I have heard from some friends who do manage to work someplace where their manager expresses appreciation for them frequently. My point is--I think there are better workplaces out there! (Right now I work for myself which circumvents most of that stuff). But if I was looking for a new employer, my new minimum criteria is that they at least have to handle problems by problem-solving, not drama.

easymodex 6y ago

Where I work it's like if you do a bad job and screw something up everyone notices and it's a whole lot of drama involved, but if you do a good job and fix something before it blows up, no one notices and no one cares. So all the bad without the good. I guess you get used to it after a while but I would love a metaphorical pat on the back and a "good job" every now and then.

notenoughhorses 6y ago
I have had two bad workplaces and one good one. The best I saw, at the good one, was that if something went wrong, we would figure out WHY and how to prevent ourselves from doing this in the future (constructive approach). The bad places, everyone was about pointing fingers at other people (the worst being those reviewers who blamed first years!) and yelling / lecturing but not problem-solving why the workflow allowed this problem to arise. I have heard from some friends who do manage to work someplace where their manager expresses appreciation for them frequently. My point is--I think there are better workplaces out there! (Right now I work for myself which circumvents most of that stuff). But if I was looking for a new employer, my new minimum criteria is that they at least have to handle problems by problem-solving, not drama.