“This is an exercise that takes some time and reflection – don’t expect to nail it in one go,” advises Hemery. “It’s great to write a first draft without thinking too much about it and then go back to it another time to go deeper.

“It’s also important to remember that you’re not just looking for a career. You want a life that goes with that career. So when you make your list, don’t think about just the job, but the life you want to live alongside it. What’s important in your life? What job supports that life?”

Try setting aside some time where you won’t be disturbed. Divide a sheet of paper in two, with ‘love’ at the top of one column and ‘loathe’ at the top of the other. Jot down what comes to you. Don’t worry about putting what you think you should, or what you think other people would expect you to write. No one else is going to see this list, so be as truthful as you can.

You may find it hard at first when faced with the blank page, but once the ideas start flowing you’ll likely find there’s a lot to write. Hemery recommends being specific with what you include, as this can help give you better clarity on what matters to you. So, rather than writing “helping people” in the ‘love’ list, you could say, “helping marginalised people who are going through a hard time and making a difference to their lives”. This really pinpoints what it is you love, and loathe, about work.

You can write both about your current role and past jobs. “When you think about your past roles, you can also think about what you learned professionally and personally, what the challenges were and how it felt. Challenges can be good challenges, fun to overcome or bad experiences that you struggled with,” adds Hemery.

How to use a ‘love and loathe list’ to understand what you want from your career