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Rather than challenging, I look for work that helps people. I don't mean necessarily charity work that feeds the homeless or something, though that obviously f

Rather than challenging, I look for work that helps people. I don't mean necessarily charity work that feeds the homeless or something, though that obviously fits. But even if I'm just working on an Outlook plugin that helps you schedule your meetings, that's useful work for people, it hopefully reduces your hassle. That's the kind of thing I find rewarding, making your day suck slightly less. This isn't me saying your way is wrong and my way is right, just offering a different approach to job search.

lhorie 6y ago
Personally, I took to heart at an early age the idea of not looking for something you love, but instead finding something you can tolerate. Work - almost by definition - "sucks" in some very subjective way, otherwise it wouldn't be called work. But at the same time, one person's pain is another's gain. Thinking about work in terms of objective drudgery that one doesn't mind doing (or even better, that one enjoys doing) is one way to avoid the mental dichotomy of drudgery-vs-reward since then the work itself is either its own reward, or it just doesn't tip the scales negatively, philosophically speaking. In a way, it's a form of taking pleasure in small things, like feeling accomplished after cleaning the kitchen even though cleaning a kitchen is almost universally considered drudgery.
- Consultant32452 6y ago
  I'm very aligned with this. That's why I didn't focus too much on whether I enjoy the task, because every "job" will be drudgery after a point. A woodworker has a new cabinet or something at the end of the day. It's a real thing that is useful in the world and even if you stopped enjoying woodworking you at least see real tangible results from your work. This is much harder to get from IT/software dev. That's why I try to focus on whether my work makes someone else's drudgery less awful. It gives me the feeling that I did a real thing that accomplished something (however small) in the world.
- huachimingo 6y ago
  Funny thing, in spanish we associate "trabajar" as the modern meaning of "working", but in old times was meant as "to torment or torture with the triple-club". This also happened in other romance languages.

lhorie 6y ago

Personally, I took to heart at an early age the idea of not looking for something you love, but instead finding something you can tolerate. Work - almost by definition - "sucks" in some very subjective way, otherwise it wouldn't be called work. But at the same time, one person's pain is another's gain. Thinking about work in terms of objective drudgery that one doesn't mind doing (or even better, that one enjoys doing) is one way to avoid the mental dichotomy of drudgery-vs-reward since then the work itself is either its own reward, or it just doesn't tip the scales negatively, philosophically speaking. In a way, it's a form of taking pleasure in small things, like feeling accomplished after cleaning the kitchen even though cleaning a kitchen is almost universally considered drudgery.

Consultant32452 6y ago
I'm very aligned with this. That's why I didn't focus too much on whether I enjoy the task, because every "job" will be drudgery after a point. A woodworker has a new cabinet or something at the end of the day. It's a real thing that is useful in the world and even if you stopped enjoying woodworking you at least see real tangible results from your work. This is much harder to get from IT/software dev. That's why I try to focus on whether my work makes someone else's drudgery less awful. It gives me the feeling that I did a real thing that accomplished something (however small) in the world.
huachimingo 6y ago
Funny thing, in spanish we associate "trabajar" as the modern meaning of "working", but in old times was meant as "to torment or torture with the triple-club". This also happened in other romance languages.