Ali Abdaal argues that work energizes you when you engage fully with sincerity and playfulness, not when you coast and watch the clock. Approaching tasks with purpose and a focus on helping others leaves you more energized at day's end, even after high effort.
People feel that the more energy you give, the more drained you become. But it's actually not true. Similarly with work, it's like the more effort and engagement you give to your work, that doesn't deplete your energy, that actually renews your energy. The most draining thing in the world is coasting, looking at your clock, being like, oh God, when is this going to end? No one is energized by that. No one- Sucks a life out of you. Sucks a life out of you. But if you're fully engaged, if you're like giving it your all, if you're showing up sincerely rather than seriously, if you're doing all things, treating it like play, lightness and ease, having fun along the way, trying to help people out, you get home from the end of the day of work feeling more energized than when you started, even though counterintuitively, you've been putting a lot of energy into it.
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