What is it that I like/dislike about my job?
It’s worth going back to some Paul Graham on this pg_great_work
From pg_love
- PG says the upper bound is finding something you love doing because of a long run payoff, or that its progress toward something noble, or that you feel is important.
- Then, the lower bound is doing something that passes that marker of at least as productive as being totally unproductive.
And the 80K hours advice for your dream job:
- Work your good at
- Work that helps others
- Supportive conditions
I think fundamentally, I don’t think I tick these boxes as much as I’d like. At least I can’t frame it to myself that I do.
The rule about doing what you love assumes a certain length of time. It doesn’t mean, do what will make you happiest this second, but what will make you happiest over some longer period, like a week or a month
This highlighted bit is a thin I relate to a lot at the moment:
As a lower bound, you have to like your work more than any unproductive pleasure. You have to like what you do enough that the concept of “spare time” seems mistaken. Which is not to say you have to spend all your time working. You can only work so much before you get tired and start to screw up. Then you want to do something else — even something mindless. But you don’t regard this time as the prize and the time you spend working as the pain you endure to earn it.
Work is not my favourite thing to do, therefore its hard to do a good job at it. Theres a tension though because it feels, at times, like I would like it if I applied myself but I’m scared or apprehensive about applying myself too much in case it’s all a big waste of time.
Part of me says, I’m OK with being average if it means I can spend more compute cycles on other things like reading etc. but it’s hard to maintain that balance and still feel like you’re good at your work and/or you’re doing great work. Because you’re not.
Like
Dislike
- I don’t really feel good at what I do. More, I feel non-optimal for some of the tasks I’ve to do.
- I feel that some of the work I do is useless. That it should be replaced by a machine. Why does this prevent me from doing my best work in it at this current moment?