People keep confusing routine with passion at work

I noticed this at my office last month. A coworker said he loved his job because he was good at the daily tasks. But the thing is, he never talked about it outside of work hours. That is just routine, not real passion. I only figured this out after I started gardening on weekends and realized I actually missed my plants more than my spreadsheets. Has anyone else realized they swapped liking a habit for actually caring about the work?

4 comments

4 Comments

williams.sage7d ago

Used to be one of those people who said I was super passionate about my job because I was good at it and liked the structure. It took me way too long to realize I was just describing comfort and familiarity, not actual excitement. When I left that job and didn't miss a single thing about the work itself, that's when it finally clicked. The guy from the OP's story about not talking about his job outside work hours hit hard because that was totally me. Now I get that real passion makes you think about it when you don't have to, even if it's just a hobby like gardening. Routine is just the path you walk, passion is why you wanted to walk it in the first place.

grantp147d ago

Passion is a pretty big word to throw at a job that pays your bills. Most people are just trying to get through the workday without hating their lives, not searching for some deep calling. It's fine to just like your job enough to show up and do it well without it being this whole identity thing.

kelly3857d ago

That spreadsheet is probably not gonna call you back at 2am wondering where you been. 🤷‍♂️

mary_west3d ago

kelly385 gets it, that spreadsheet never calls you back at 2am lol. Same thing happened to me with my old job, I was so proud of being efficient at it but once I left I didn't give it a second thought. My weekend pottery project though, I find myself thinking about it on Tuesday afternoons.

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