🐋How to not be bored at work
The role of dopamine in job satisfaction. Plus BIG Tech Pod announcement! + Open roles as Program Manager @TikTok, Talent Engagement @TALA, Comms Designer @Salesforce, a post-grad internship @asana!
Hello, Tech Pod! 💦
Did you know?
We have something in common — dopamine directs how we feel about our work.
🤔
Let us explain ⬇️
But first — the Tech Pod announcement! 🎉
We’ll cut right to the chase – we want your friends to know about Tech Pod.
So, we’re going to start raffling off a bi-weekly $50 Amazon gift card!
How to join in:
Create a LinkedIn post about the week’s newsletter content
Link the Tech Pod Substack + tag our LinkedIn page
Creative freedom is yours to explore — share a quote, disagree, open a dialogue… It’s all up to you.
More potential benefits to you:
Start a conversation with the Tech Pod community of readers
Increase engagement with your posts
Springboard your personal brand by sharing your thoughts online
We look forward to engaging with your posts this week! Winners will be notified via LinkedIn.
📺 And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming
Once upon a time, there was a new grad wanting to break into tech…
Scene 1: They’ve done their research and have realized they want to pursue marketing. “This is it, I found my passion!” They excitedly begin applying and dreaming of their potential future at Netflix, Salesforce, etc. A mix of their strong desire and anxiety about the unknown is building up to a climax. “Will they think I’m good enough? If I actually get hired, my life will change forever.”
Scene 2: Amazing news, they got the job! Their desire reaches its fulfillment, sending their energy levels and optimism for the future sky high. They take on all the new challenges of the job with enthusiasm, everything is exciting. “Life will never be the same.” They love the passionate and productive person they’ve become.
Scene 3: Six months to a year later — Excitement has dulled as they settle into the daily realities of the job. Their rose-colored glasses have fallen off and they’ve begun to notice flaws in the company and begin getting irritated with some of their tasks. “Is this really what I’m meant to be doing? Is there something better out there?” Work feels like…well, work.
Why have we all experienced this?
It’s all about chemicals, baby.
Dopamine: the anticipation molecule. Its purpose is to spur us on through the difficulties of creating and sourcing new things. It sees already possessing things as uninteresting — it’s the getting that matters. Its gaze is permanently set on the future, and it runs a race with no finish line.
Serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins: they give pleasure from sensation and emotion in the current moment. Allowing us to rest into long-term happiness from what we’ve obtained from dopamine-powered conquests. They help to overlook the negative in light of the good and keep us working on something to its completion.
Ideally, they work together in balance
But if we’re super tuned into dopamine thrills we can have trouble transitioning into long-term steady satisfaction.
Keeping us in a cycle of dissatisfaction at our jobs ⬇️
Work is work
Now, let it be known that changing jobs every few years in your early career can be a solid approach to increasing your pay, getting leadership positions, and new experiences.
But let it be grounded and guided by strategy instead of chasing an idyllic world where work is exciting every day.
Even a job you love will be boring and irritating at times — C’est la vie!
Just give that serotonin a bit of time to do its job. 😉
Disclaimer: remember these are all suggestions. Our experiences with work are as unique as us, so there’s no one-size-fits-all approach here — do what you know is best for you!
Last words 🍃
The content in this newsletter is drawn and inspired by Daniel Lieberman, MD and Micheal Long in their book The Molecule of More.
“A mountain is majestic. Those with higher-levels of dopamine want to climb, explore, and conquer it.
But they can’t, because it don’t exist.
The mountain itself exists. But the imagined experience of being on it is impossible to achieve.
The reality is that most of the time you’re on a mountain you can’t even tell. Typically you’re surrounded by trees, and that’s all you see.
You might come to a scenic overlook where you can see for miles. But as you look, it’s the far-away valley that’s now full of promise and beauty, not the mountain you’re standing on.”
Opportunity Delivery 🚛
Full-Time👩🎓
Program Manager, Creator Education, TikTok
Presentation & Comms Designer, Salesforce
Product Designer, Compliance, GitLab
Learning & Development Program, GitLab
Talent Engagement Associate, TALA
Cloud Operations Admin, Vectra
Internships 👩💻
Software Engineering, asana (post-grad)
🐋
Written by Jacqueline Mastrelli