How to go home from work satisfied

You work because you have ambitions. But you must learn to work for yourself. If you are one of the last ones in the office it is because you care about the work. You are a professional.

It's easy to feel exploited. It's natural to see the way you are under appreciated. Everyone else's faults are obvious. They are also unsolvable and of no importance to your work. You are a professional. So be one and be satisfied.

Evelyn Waugh learnt cabinet making from his father who taught him to always use a piece of wood in the unseen back panel at least as good as the wood in the rest of the cabinet. No-one will see it, but you will always know it is there.

The extra time you spend on your work for no reward is the panel in the back of the cabinet.

You are who you are. You are not your job. But who you are is what you do. Leave on time without doing your best and you become that person. It happens slowly and it's a constant dynamic. But having good reasons for using low quality wood in the back of the cabinet doesn't make you a professional.

Virtue is habit. Aim to be virtuous in your work habits and you will be aiming to go home satisfied.