Searching for Purpose as a Work-From-Home Engineer

One thing I noticed during the pandemic was how different work feels when you can clearly see who it helps.

Building online forms that helped people during that time gave me a stronger sense of purpose than I’d felt in a long time.

Work That Felt Meaningful

During the pandemic, I had the opportunity to develop online forms to assist people in need. 

For the first time in a long while, the connection between the work and the people it was helping felt immediate and visible. The forms were practical, simple things—but they helped people access support during a difficult time.

That changed how the work felt. It stopped being abstract tickets, systems, and projects, and became something more human.

What Changed After the Pandemic

Although the pandemic has ended, I'm still working from home as a software engineer. While I'm grateful for the work I do, I'm currently exploring ways to find a greater sense of purpose and fulfillment in my work and personal life. My family is my main focus in life, and while I enjoy my hobbies, I've been wondering what my overall purpose is.

After some reflection, I've realized that finding purpose is a journey that requires patience, introspection, and a willingness to take action. Here are some tips that have helped me find meaning and fulfillment in my work and personal life.

What Actually Matters to Me

Reflect on Your Values

For me, family is my top priority. I want to make sure that I'm spending quality time with my loved ones and supporting them in any way I can. What values are most important to you? Take some time to reflect on what matters most to you, and use those values as a compass to guide your decisions and actions.

Set Goals That Align With Your Values

Once you've identified your values, set goals that align with them. For me, this means finding ways to spend more time with my family and being present for the moments that matter. Maybe for you, it's about making a positive impact on the world or pursuing a creative passion. When your goals align with your values, you'll feel more purposeful and fulfilled.

Find Meaning in Your Work

Even if your job is not your primary focus in life, you can still find meaning and purpose in your work. For me, developing online forms that helped people during the pandemic was incredibly rewarding. Now, I try to focus on the positive impact my work is having, even if it's smaller. It's important to recognize the value of your contributions, no matter how big or small.

Pursue Your Hobbies

Hobbies are a great way to find fulfillment outside of work. For me, woodworking and working on cars are my go-to activities. Pursuing hobbies can also provide a sense of accomplishment and purpose, as you learn new skills and create something with your own hands.

Embrace Your Role as a Parent

Finally, as a parent, I know how important my role is in shaping the lives of my children. Being a loving and supportive parent is one of the most purposeful things I can do. Embrace the joys and challenges of parenthood, and let your love for your children inspire you to be the best version of yourself.

Trying to Find Balance

I don’t think purpose is something you suddenly discover once and keep forever.

It changes over time, and often comes from smaller things than we expect—family, useful work, building things, helping people, or simply feeling connected to what we do.

I’m probably still figuring it out.

A lot of this also connects to my thoughts on working from home and how it changes the balance between work and life.

It also links closely to my post on visual thinking and understanding how different people experience work and learning differently.

Technology feels very different when it genuinely helps people.

I spend a lot of time thinking about how systems, services, and digital tools can be made simpler and more useful for the people using them.

You can take a look at my TechFix service if that resonates.

How Working from Home Changed My Life

One thing working from home changed for me was the relationship between work, time, and everyday life.

Living in rural Aberdeenshire, removing the daily commute gave me back hours of time and a much calmer way of working.

Getting Time Back

I used to spend a lot of time commuting to work, but now I can enjoy breakfast with my family and help my kids with their homework after school. I also attend more of their extracurricular activities, like sports games.

Creating a Better Working Environment

I used to dread the daily commute to and from work, but now I no longer have to deal with rush hour traffic or other stressors associated with the traditional office environment. I can work in a quiet, comfortable environment that I've tailored to my needs, which has significantly reduced my stress levels.

More Control Over the Day

One unexpected benefit of working from home was how much unnecessary friction disappeared from everyday life.

Without the daily commute, I gained back both time and energy. The day felt calmer and less fragmented without rushing to get out the door, sitting in traffic, buying lunch, or organising everything around travelling to and from an office.

I also found I had more control over how I worked. Being able to focus in a quieter environment, take breaks when needed, and structure the day more naturally reduced a lot of background stress that I probably hadn’t fully noticed before.

For me, working from home wasn’t just about productivity—it was about creating a way of working that felt more balanced and sustainable.

Another thing that changed was the nature of collaboration itself. A large part of my day is now spent on Teams calls with colleagues in India, Latvia, London, and the US.

At that point, commuting into an office just to spend the day on remote calls starts to feel slightly disconnected from the way modern work actually happens.

The work is already distributed, digital, and location-independent. Working from home simply aligns more naturally with that reality.

What I’d Struggle to Give Up

Working from home isn’t perfect, and I understand why some people prefer office environments.

But for me, having more control over my environment, time, and balance has fundamentally changed how I think about work.

I’d struggle to go back to losing hours each day commuting.

A lot of this also connects to my thoughts on meaningful work and purpose.

It also links closely to how I’ve tried simplifying digital organisation using systems like PARA and Todoist.

Good systems and environments can make everyday work feel much calmer and more manageable.

I spend a lot of time simplifying digital tools, workflows, and working environments to reduce unnecessary friction.

You can take a look at my TechFix service if that sounds useful.

A Year After CodeClan

A year earlier, changing career into software development still felt uncertain.

By this point, seeing my entire CodeClan cohort working in tech made it finally feel real.

I did my first post back in September last year and was able to keep up a run of 43 consecutive weeks of posting each Friday.

Then I slipped up a couple of weekends ago and I was gutted. In the end, it doesn’t really matter but I am the sort of person when I start something it quickly becomes routine and I have to keep it going or I beat myself up about it

I follow a couple of YouTube vloggers who do daily uploads. Where do they get the time? I guess they don’t have full-time jobs and kids. YouTube is their job, but still, it must be a big pressure to keep it up every day with thousands of followers eagerly awaiting your daily post.

I will keep going with my weekly blog and if I miss a week it's no big deal.

Watching the Cohort Move Into Industry

Some good news from my CodeClan Cohort 7 this week. 21 out of 21 are now employed in the software development industry. And most in Scotland. The last of us to secure a software developer job was the other week. Woo hoo! Go Us!

Looking back, that felt like a huge achievement at the time. Many of us had come from completely different industries and backgrounds, and there was a lot of uncertainty about whether the career change would actually work out.

Unfortunately, one was not kept on beyond 6-month probation. I'm not sure of the details but it's a real shame and I imagine it is more to do with the company than the graduate. Based on the 100% success rate they should get something else soon.

Looking Back at the Journey

I happened to be in Edinburgh last week and popped in to see how things were in CodeClan. A few cohorts have passed since I was last there. It was project week for some so it was busy with students working on their projects. It was great to catch up with the folk and particularly one of my fellow graduates who has gone on to be an instructor there. He never got to leave.

I had been asked previously by CodeClan if they could compile my 16 weeks of blogs while there into a PDF book.

Of course, that was my response and they had been working on it with my pictures and all. I got the first look and was amazed to find it has over 80 pages. It should be available via the CodeClan website soon. I'm quite excited to see it go live. I have never actually gone back and read through what I produced last year. Hopefully, the spelling and bad grammar have been fixed. I will add a link here later.

Looking back now, CodeClan was much more than just learning to code.

It was a complete career reset and the start of a very different chapter of life and work.

At the time it felt risky. In hindsight, it was one of the best decisions I made.

This also connects closely to my reflections on meaningful work and career change.

A lot of the thinking behind this transition started much earlier with my interest in early computing and programming.

Learning new technical skills can completely change the direction of your career and life.

I still enjoy solving problems, simplifying systems, and helping people untangle technical challenges.

You can take a look at my TechFix service if that sounds useful.

My Early Days in Digital Transformation

Starting a new role at Aberdeen City Council felt like stepping into a very different world from the engineering environments I had worked in previously.

Suddenly I was surrounded by digital services, accessibility discussions, web design, smart city ideas, and people trying to modernise large public systems.

So I'd consider myself part of the team now at Aberdeen City Council. I've managed to get into the swing of how things work,

I have lots of new friends and colleagues, and I am really getting into the hot desking. I get to sit at a different desk each day and get to sit with different people most days. Although the folk I work with directly in the Team generally sit in the same area.

Adjusting to a New Digital Workplace

I have had a few days working from home and it's good. Probably the easiest login from home I have ever had or used yet. No hassle, no dongle, no phone app, and no code to remember.

I also found myself surrounded by people who were genuinely passionate about improving digital services and modernising how the council worked.

A couple of interesting tech projects I heard about this week is Smart Benches and City Lab.

Discovering Civic Technology

ACC has commissioned a couple of Smart Benches for Aberdeen City. They are solar-powered smartphone recharging centers in the form of a park bench. So if you are low or run out of charge you can pop by one of the benches, take a load off and recharge your phone. This is a great concept and it will be good to see how they work and are used when installed. I do have concerns about a USB point exposed to the elements but I'm sure that has been thought of.

The other initiative is City Lab, which is run jointly between The University of Aberdeen, Robert Gordon’s University, and ACC. It brings together students, ACC staff, and partner organizations for one term to design and build sustainable projects for the city.

ACC has identified areas where new projects would help the city and community. Students get to be creative by brainstorming and developing their ideas. I wish I could have had access to something like this when I studied at RGU.

Some of the projects going through this scheme are smart tiles that generate electricity by people walking on them to power traffic lights, smart school busses with teaching capacity, and smart signage.

Seeing How Digital Services Are Designed

This week I also got a sneaky peek at the new ACC website design.

I can't say too much but help came from a design agency called Screen Media. It was great being able to work with these guys and get an insight into the whole web design process.

A lot of thought goes into layout, colours, and accessibility. I was well impressed with the draft and excited to be involved with the process so far. It also goes to show there is a lot more to good web design than code and a bit of CSS. Looking back now, this was probably one of the first times I really started appreciating how much user experience, accessibility, structure, and communication matter in digital services.

I will keep you posted when it goes live.

What Stayed With Me

Looking back, this period feels like the start of a major shift in how I thought about technology.

I was moving away from purely physical engineering problems and becoming increasingly interested in systems, usability, accessibility, and how technology shapes everyday public services.

The pics this week are not mine (I wish) I found them on display at the Brewdog next door to Marischal College. They are part of an Aberdeen Star Wars Exhibition. Thought they were cool, and as ever I forgot to note who the artist is. I like them though.

This also connects closely to my reflections on visual thinking and systems thinking.

A lot of the same ideas around simplicity and usability also appear in my post about technology overcomplication.

The transition into digital work also links naturally to my reflections on changing career into software development.

I’m still fascinated by how technology, systems, and design affect the way people interact with services every day.

A lot of the work I do now still centres around simplifying systems and improving digital experiences.

You can find out more here.