> The most appealing thing I'd seen recently was a company that wrote software to help maximize farm yields. At least there was some real, effective benefit for a great many people.
After my graduate work I am the opppsite. I realized that meaningfulness is not a sufficient condotion for enjoying my work. The tasks I work on and my coworkers make a much larger impact on my happiness. Whether I work on something "stupid" or "vapid" matters much less.
I worked on some really vapid projects that were technically very challenging and got to work on them with extremely talented cross functional teams and still felt like crap doing them. It's fun when you're in the thick of it but I feel no joy or satisfaction looking back on any of it. Working on meaningful projects is the only thing that does it for me now.
Coworkers who are pleasant to work with make all the difference to me as well. Smooth communication, trust, and a bit of comradery can make meaningless work go by quickly. Politics, micromanagement, and rivalry can make even logging in a chore.
After my graduate work I am the opppsite. I realized that meaningfulness is not a sufficient condotion for enjoying my work. The tasks I work on and my coworkers make a much larger impact on my happiness. Whether I work on something "stupid" or "vapid" matters much less.