What Are You Working On?

Do you have something you're working on? 

Is it meaningful to you?

Do you find it fulfilling?

I think we all have a need for 'meaningful' work. We're always doing things, working on something - or many things. But is the work meaningful? To you, to someone else, or for many others?

Right now, we're writing a book. We're keeping track of facets, decisions, and details. It's creative, somewhat rule-less, and pretty much our baby right now. It feels good to be working on it. It feels bigger than us and it's definitely our biggest challenge yet.

"Meaningful work is work that is autonomous, work that is complex, that occupies your mind, and work where there is a relationship between effort and reward - for everything you put in, you get something out..." - Malcolm Gladwell

(Speaking of challenges, I don't have a P52uesday photo for you today or one to make up for last 2uesday. Sorry. But as it's a self-imposed challenge, I guess I'm ok breaking the rules.)

When I tear myself away from writing our book, (it's easy to tweak, and fuss, and edit, and move things around all day long), I'm trying to keep on top of a few other tiny things - and they may seem trivial, but they make diving into the book again every morning a bit easier:

-keeping the kitchen clean - somehow the day always looks up when the counters are clear and the sink is empty.

-staying on top of emails, phone calls, and letter-writing/card-sending. It feels so much better to just reply right away or call right back - what do we wait for? It takes almost as much time to write these things on a to-do list as it does to just do them. Of course, I add them to the to-do list after they're done just so I can cross them off - I can't be alone in this? And it feels good to send some love out to friends and family when there's a birthday or an anniversary to celebrate - a little way of saying, 'we know today isn't just an everyday for you.' 

-picking up around the house - putting laundry away after it's done (like 'back in drawers and closets away'), keeping the constant rotation of shoes at bay, eliminating the tumbleweeds of dog hair that hide in crooks and crevices of the house, and keeping up with the sorting/tossing/filing of the volumes of paper work and other 'stuff' that come in and out of our house.

Our day-to-days.

Well, back to work.

Do you have something you're working on? Is the work meaningful to you?