What Doesn't Seem Like Work?
19 hours ago
- The author's father, a mathematician, knew from age 12 that he wanted to work in maths, showing early clarity of purpose.
- The father enjoyed solving math problems as a reward, not work, and would complete textbooks immediately, unlike typical students.
- A key heuristic: if something seems like work to others but not to you, you are likely well-suited for it.
- Many programmers enjoy debugging, a task others see as tedious, illustrating this principle.
- Unusual personal tastes can be strong indicators of the right career path, as seen from the author's college experience of enjoying writing papers for friends.
- Deciding what to work on can be difficult and may require recognizing subtle clues about what feels enjoyable versus burdensome.