The great benefit for a self-help essayist in this era of recession is the value of the singular.

How many times I have marveled at the multiplicity of tips offered (often in blocks of 7: at the limits of our human capacity for “chunking”, or holding ideas consistently in our heads) for emotional coping and personal success: and recognized that I knew so few that would guarantee a return.

But now, perhaps because it seems so necessary to begin laying out a mental map for the uncharted territories of widespread professional unemployment, I’ll try out my single tip: It is paying attention to the Effect of action. In business, we call it productivity. In philosophy and psychology, we understand the effect-of-action to imbue action with meaning.

Effect is at the heart of insourcing, which is itself— the act of generation. Effect refers to fruitfulness. Paired with the continuous action of curating (which is oversight and reshaping) those actions we recognize through their effect, we are able both to move forward and to observe our progress.

I was talking with Simon, an under-employed finance professional last week, who said that for him, the most difficult challenge of seeking work is the continuous frustration in not “finding an opening” —- in the lonely task of seeing an environmental entry-point for his talents, when those on-ramps seemed to have disappeared. For him, the cumulative effect of actions taken has been a dispiriting absence. And it is that absence that frustrates him: that sense of working towards no apparent end. What might he do?

Mark, one of his colleagues in our group had an idea. Because the actions of seeking work seemed, from time to time, unlinked to the getting of work, two outcomes appeared likely. The first was a deeper acquaintance with depression— and this was the track on which Simon seemed to be heading. The second was one with which Mark was beginning, himself, to have some success. He had recognized that, for him, there were a number of daily activities (including volunteering with several different community organizations) that consistently provided him with a positive sense of contribution: a positive effect.

His suggestion to Simon was to think deeply about activities that would guarantee their delivery: if not the “check”, that essential economic stimulus—- then, at least a consistent return on his sense of self-efficacy. For Mark, the meaningfulness of the activity was its return on investment. He could control this contingency in his life: guaranteeing either a response from others or an internal sense of worth, through personally meaningful actions.

Simon scoffed at the idea. It sounded like self-deception to him. But Mark was correct (and had been out of work longer). Only by maintaining a positive balance of effective to ineffective (meaningless) actions, are we able to persevere over the long haul.

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