How to Decide What to Work On

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Identity your interests

What are you curious about to a degree that would bore most other people? That's what you're looking for.

Paul Graham, How to Do Great Work

Another way to assess your interests is to look at the people doing that work. Paul Graham:

One useful trick for judging different kinds of work is to look at who your colleagues will be. You'll become like whoever you work with. Do you want to become like these people?

If you choose work you're genuinely interested in, you'll be surrounded mostly by other people who are genuinely interested in it, and that will make it extra inspiring.

If you need a tie breaker, Graham suggests going with the most flexible option:

The less sure you are about what to do, the more important it is to choose options that give you more options in the future. I call this "staying upwind." If you're unsure whether to major in math or economics, for example, choose math. Math is upwind of economics in the sense that it will be easier to switch later from math to economics than from economics to math.

Try things

You can't really know if you like a type of work until you've tried it. Paul Graham:

When you can't decide which path to take, it's almost always due to ignorance. In fact you're usually suffering from three kinds of ignorance simultaneously: you don't know what makes you happy, what the various kinds of work are really like, or how well you could do them.

Trying things takes time, and being an amateur can be frustrating. So there's a real risk here that you might mistake hard work you like for work you just plain don't like.

One way to tell the difference might be to gauge your level of interest. According to Paul Graham, a field should become increasingly interesting as you learn more about it. If it doesn't, it's probably not for you.

Envision your future

The particular vision you have is less important than just having one. There are many paths to success. Therefore, it is wise to have a vision of what you may become, of where you want to go, as well as how to get there. No vision, not much chance of doing great work; with a vision you have a good chance.

Richard Hamming, You and Your Research

Further Reading