Finding Meaning in Work Is Easier Than You Think.
Have you ever seen college career center posters that tell you to “Find meaning in work!”? Some depicted happy people sitting at nondescript tables; others may depict one professional in a triumphant pose, clearly achieving something great. These posters conveyed the message that “meaning” is the only thing that can be seen, and we would only be happy in our careers if we had it. Those posters were a good argument, they were just badly delivered.
Where they were right was in conveying the importance of finding meaning in work. It doesn’t just make us happier; we are also healthier and more resilient . Employers also benefit when their teams find meaning. Employees stay at their jobs longer, put in more effort, and perform better over time.
What the posters got wrong was that they conveyed this meaning as a destination or success to be achieved, and that it’s an all or nothing deal – either you have it or you don’t. In reality, “meaning” is much more fluid and doesn’t have to be present all the time. In this study , researchers found that doctors who spend as little as 20% of their time on meaningful tasks are less at risk of burnout than those who don’t. They also found a “ceiling effect” which meant that spending more than 20% didn’t produce much results.
It is reasonable to assume that this also applies to people who are not doctors. If you work 40 hours a week, only eight of those hours need to be devoted to work that makes sense in order to get any benefit. That’s not a lot.
If you’re struggling to find meaning in your work, start by defining it for yourself. You can’t find it if you don’t know what it is. What inspires you? What gives you energy? With whom do you prefer to communicate, and what is interesting, exciting or thought-provoking about these interactions? The answers to these questions do not have to be related to your current job. Just define it for yourself.
Then find it by exploring something different and new. Here are three suggestions.
Use coworking
Blending our environment can help us see our circumstances differently. This is more important than ever given our remote and hybrid environment that forces us to stare at the same walls all day. More importantly, loneliness is a real risk of working in such conditions. Try to find meaning when you are in a stagnant environment and feel alone. It won’t be easy.
Using coworking space can solve both problems. Not only the space is different, but the people too. The benefits of using coworking space include a greater sense of well-being in addition to escaping colleagues and more control over who we interact with. It means to shake up your surroundings so that meaning can emerge.
Take a break from the news
Almost any day of the week it can feel like the world is on fire. It’s reasonable to ask, “How can I find meaning in my work when there are so many terrible things going on around me?”
When we are bombarded with negative news all day long, it affects how we feel about things and thus affects what we do and the choices we make. In fact, Sean Achor and Michelle Gilan write in the Harvard Business Review that “Just a few minutes spent reading negative news in the morning can change the entire emotional trajectory of your day.”
So, take a news break. Turn off notifications or hide apps for at least a week. Capture the distractions that daily news creates to open up space for understanding what makes sense.
Look for meaningful moments (instead of expecting them from the whole work)
Meaningful work is not something you have or don’t have. Rather, it comes and goes. Looking for moments. It might look like a small interaction with a respected colleague, a hard-earned agreement after a long debate, or the satisfaction of a clean, concise, and accurate report. You can even see it in the beauty of the flowers blooming outside the window. Meaning can come from anywhere if you’re looking for it.
The point here is to narrow your focus and expectations around meaningful work. It’s fluid, and for many, there probably isn’t one single career that will create it. Rather, it is the culmination of cases that come to light under the right conditions and with our attention.