The short answer
When work feels empty, it's usually because you've lost the connection between your daily tasks and something you actually care about. The fix isn't a new job — it's finding that thread again. Start by asking: what small part of this work still feels real to me, even a little?
I used to feel like my work mattered. Now I'm just going through the motions and I don't know what it's all for. Research on work meaning shows this is a real shift — not laziness, not ingratitude. Meaning at work isn't fixed. It gets built and rebuilt through what you do, who you do it with, and whether you can see the point. When those things drift, so does the feeling that your work counts for anything.
Marcus wrote that every trade and craft has one thing in common: the worker gives full attention to what's right in front of them, and to the tool in their hand. Not the big picture. Not the legacy. The thing in front of them, right now. That's easy to miss when you're stuck asking the large, unanswerable question — 'what is all of this even for?' That question can paralyze you. The smaller one — 'what part of today's work still feels real?' — can move you.
This week, pick one task you actually finish — something with a clear start and end. Notice how it feels to complete it. That's not a cure, but it's a real starting point. Meaning often comes back the same way it left: quietly, through small moments of genuine effort. If this feeling runs deep and won't shift, talking to someone you trust — a friend, a mentor, or a counselor — is worth doing.