What is meaningful work?

note to self: create a different category for this kind of short form posts / thoughts, maybe.

I was at work and I thought about what makes work fun or what makes it something you want to continue doing. I think there are some aspects to it. The largest two that I can think of, at least for myself, are:

1. the bigger meaning behind the work we do, in terms of value created. All work creates value of some kind but is it the kind of value that you care about?

2. The process of work itself. This means the things we do at work, the whole problem-solving process, how it's done. I think this is what makes something fun for me. At least as of now, I like it when the work I'm doing allows me to do everything from understanding the problem, then formulating solutions, then implementing that solution. So I like it when the scope of the problem is open-ended enough so I have something to think through.

In terms of the bigger meaning behind the work that I do, I find this isn't really something I think about (yet). Previously I mentioned that the bigger meaning behind the work that we do refers to the value created. This breaks down into two things:

1. what value is created?

2. for whom is this value created?

While I still haven't discovered what sort of value I actually want to create, here are some values I realize I don't really care for. Perhaps one day I will get to the point where I narrow it down enough to know what sort of value I actually want to create. 😃

1. Systems that encourage social media content consumption and consumerism. When I actually think about what I'm helping to build here, it's a system that keeps people consuming. Of course, this is the main source of revenue for social media platforms, and I don't doubt that social media creates value in other ways, like creating communities and connections. But when it comes to keeping people hooked to social media (in various ways - like a good recommendation system for example), I don't really like the idea of that, especially when it reinforces habits of mindless consumption and quick dopamine hits we get from consuming short-term content and purchasing stuff we don't really care for, or that don't bring much long-term benefits to us.