Turtles all the way down

Or at least that’s what a colleague once told me.

I think he was right. No matter what you do, if you’re going to do it right, there’s a lot of perspiration involved.

As a researcher, I had to read a lot of articles, run experiments, gather results, and write them up. As a manager I spent a lot of time in meetings. As an executive I spent more time in meetings, and stayed up late with Excel and Powerpoint trying to figure out how we’d make payroll and how we’d sell more stuff.

As a patent agent I spend more time than I’d like proofing my own work. As a law student I read a lot, and not all of it is particularly exciting.

Sure, each of these tasks has its pleasures, and sometimes are a lot of fun. But none are glamorous. Hard work and tedium are part of every job. Get used to it.