The Moment You Like Your Work Enough To Make It Matter

Here's nonsense at work #297

Here’s an exercise that you might like: Step away from your work and keep your hands where you can see them!

So, did you enjoy stepping away from your work? You did? Is that because you don’t really like the work that you do? Well, the next part of the exercise might change your mind for the better about your work.

First, let's clarify the difference between meaning and purpose. Your job, any job, normally has a purpose: to make something physical, to make something happen, to provide a service, and so on.

But is it meaningful? Ah, now that's a tricky question. Who knows? Surely, it depends on what has meaning for you. I suggest we use the following catch-all concept to clarify job meaning:

How do you feel when you do your job? And after you've done it?

Are your hands still where you can see them? Now, what will those hands do today? How will they make your life a little better? More important, what will these hands do today to make someone else’s life a little easier, a little better?

There you have it, the key to liking your work a little more. Your ability to see how your work helps other people, not just a bottom line.

Even if you believe your work doesn’t really matter in the greater scheme of things, it has the potential to matter much in the moment... the moment when you choose to use it to help others.

Welcome to my side of the nonsense divide.