As I write this, my hands are shaky, my back is achy, and my rotator cuff on the right side is downright cranky. The rest of me — surprise! — is enjoying a great feeling of accomplishment.
What gives?
Snow shoveling, that’s what.
I spent the last hour working like a maniac to clear my driveway and walkways of snow. It was back-bending work, but I was reminded all over again that snow shoveling is the worst job I’ve ever loved.
Why do I find it so satisfying?
For starters, it’s challenging but not impossible. You have all the skills and the tools you need. You know you’ll have to work hard, but in most cases, heart permitting, you know you’ll get the job done.
You start with a clear goal. You can see in your mind that snow-free driveway, perhaps flanked by a few envious neighbors whose own driveways remain covered.
There are no rules or procedures. Nor is there a hovering boss to tell you how it’s done. Heck, you can shovel in figure eights if you want. I favor the two-shovel approach, which might be why my lumbar region hates me right now. Chances are you’ll figure out the most efficient path pretty quickly.
You get results as you go. You can see them accruing with every push and heave of the shovel. At the halfway point, you can lean on your shovel, admire your progress, and take in a few deep breaths of ego-inflating satisfaction.
There are meaningful perks. You get some serious exercise, you spend time in the great outdoors, and (in my case) you make your wife very happy because she can pull into a newly cleared driveway when she arrives home from work.
Come to think of it, snow shoveling has all the ingredients of an ideal job: a positive tension between challenge and doability, an easy-to-picture goal, complete freedom in deciding how to get the job done, the chance to see incremental results followed by big results at the end, and a few nontrivial perks.
I’m not saying I want to shovel snow all the time. Nor am I saying that I hope we set new snowfall records tonight. Nor am I offering my services as a freelance snow remover.
But it’s worth asking: Are there ways we can reshape our work and workplaces to make our everyday jobs so satisfying?
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