Go see who it reaches

Most work disappears into a system. You send it off and never see who it lands on.

In a university call centre, fundraising callers who spent a few minutes with one student their money had paid for spent more time on the phone and raised more a month later. Callers who only read his letter didn't change. Evidence: decent In later field experiments, callers and lifeguards who read short stories about people the work had helped also put in more effort. Evidence: decent Researchers call this task significance: knowing your work matters to other people.

Hold it loosely. The samples were small, and all of this comes from one research programme. It's a good bet, not a law of work. Evidence: decent

If you can't find anyone at the far end, that's worth knowing too.