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.

Remembering “The Count” on the VIC-20: A Text Adventure Classic

Before games had graphics, they relied on something else—imagination.

One game that stayed with me was “The Count” on the VIC-20.

Do you remember playing games as a child, when everything felt larger than life and your imagination had no bounds? For me, one such game was "The Count" for the VIC-20, a text-based adventure game written by none other than Douglas Adams himself.

As an 11-year-old, I was immediately captivated by the game's premise of exploring a haunted castle, collecting treasures, and avoiding the notorious vampire Count Dracula. Even though the game had no graphics or sound, the story, and puzzles were engaging enough to keep me hooked for hours on end.

Now, years later, I still look back on "The Count" with fond memories of my childhood and the joy that video games brought me. 

Exploring the Castle

As a child playing "The Count" on the VIC-20, I remember being immediately drawn in by the game's text-based adventure format. The game took place in a haunted castle.

To this day I still have a mental map of the different rooms and the different artifacts you could collect.  I would sit with pen and paper making my own map and walk around the castle with commands "GO NORTH", "GO WEST" etc.  You could only enter two-word commands.  I remember in the kitchen there was Dumb-Waiter.  At the time I had no idea what a Dumb-waiter was.  There was no internet to google this at the time.  I assumed it was a waiter that could not speak.  By chance, after exhausting all options I said  "ENTER DUMB-WAITER" and all of a sudden the game had a whole new set of options.  You could "GO DOWN" and "GO UP".  down would take you to a workroom and down again would take you to the dungeon.

Without graphics, you had to build the world in your head. I would sit with pen and paper drawing maps and slowly working out how everything connected together.

Looking back, it probably shaped the way I still think about systems now.

Why It Stayed With Me

I have refreshed my memory on this as I found a VIC-20 emulator that runs on my Mac. After a hunt and a Google, I found and downloaded the software for "The Count". It took a while to figure out how to run the game.  But when I figured it out 1981 came flooding back.   I have been reliving my childhood again with this game.  I had forgotten that you have to complete the game within a number of commands.  If you use too many commands the sun goes down, you get tired and Dracula gets you and you wind up back in bed.

I've not got far enough but you find garlic to keep Dracula away, pills to stay awake, and matches to light a torch.  Oh and the Solar oven you can get into when the sun goes down.  Again I had no idea what a solar oven was.

Despite never completing the game, "The Count" has remained a nostalgic favorite of mine for years. As a child, it sparked my imagination and provided hours of entertainment, and as an adult, it's a reminder of simpler times when games were about exploration and discovery.

Looking back, what made games like this memorable wasn’t graphics or realism—it was exploration and imagination.

You had to experiment, map things out, and slowly build an understanding of how the world worked.

That way of thinking has stayed with me ever since.

Thinking about it now, I can see echoes of this style of exploration in Redcastle, a text-based adventure game I later created myself.

This also connects closely to my post on visual thinking and how I naturally build mental models of systems and spaces.

Understanding systems often starts with curiosity, exploration, and experimentation.

I spend a lot of time simplifying and understanding how systems fit together—whether technical or otherwise.

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

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.

The Commodore VIC-20: My First Computer

The Commodore VIC-20 wasn’t just my first computer—it was the thing that sparked my interest in computing, programming, and building things.

Looking back, a huge amount of what I still enjoy today probably started with that machine.

In the early 1980s, home computers were just starting to become popular, and the Commodore VIC-20 was one of the first affordable options. When I received a VIC-20 as a Christmas present from my parents, little did I know that it would become a significant influence on my life. That VIC-20 became my gateway to the world of computing and programming, and it eventually led me to pursue a career in software engineering.

Discovering Computing

The VIC-20 was a small, boxy computer that came with a built-in keyboard and 5 KB of RAM. Although its specs were modest, it was a versatile machine that could run a variety of software, from simple games to complex applications. The computer could be connected to a TV set or a dedicated monitor and used a cassette tape drive for loading and saving programs.

Learning to Program

When I first got my VIC-20, I was fascinated by its capabilities. I spent hours tinkering with it, typing in programs from magazines and experimenting with different commands. I learned BASIC programming on that computer, and I was amazed at how much I could do with just a few lines of code. I wrote simple games and educational programs.

What fascinated me most was the idea that you could create something from almost nothing—just a few lines of code could completely change what the computer did.

The Social Side of Early Computing

One of the most memorable aspects of the VIC-20 was its cassette tape drive. I spent countless hours recording games onto cassette tapes, carefully labeling them with their titles and descriptions. I also received tapes from friends and classmates, and we would swap them back and forth, trying out new games and programs. It was a social activity as much as a technical one, and it brought me closer to my peers.

Early home computing felt much more hands-on and communal than modern technology often does. People shared tapes, copied programs from magazines, and helped each other figure things out.

As I got older, I continued to use the skills I learn on the VIC-20. I learned more advanced programming concepts, such as graphics and sound programming, and I created more ambitious projects.

What Stayed With Me

Looking back, the VIC-20 was much more than just a computer.

It introduced me to programming, problem solving, creativity, and the idea that technology was something you could build and shape yourself rather than simply consume.

A surprising amount of the way I still think about systems and technology probably started there.

And to top it all I still have my VIC-20 still in its box. Although it is missing its power supply, video cable and tape deck now.

This connects closely to my post about LEGO Technic and engineering mindset, where I first became fascinated by how systems fit together.

It also links naturally to my reflections on visual thinking and how I mentally model systems and processes.

I later even created my own text adventure game called Redcastle, inspired by the kind of exploration and imagination these early computers encouraged.

Understanding technology often starts with curiosity and experimentation.

I still enjoy breaking systems down, understanding how they work, and simplifying technology where possible.

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