What feels pointless now may later become the context that makes something else understandable.

Some periods make no sense from inside because their function is to provide context for something that has not happened yet. The skill you did not need, the detour, the year that felt wasted, often become the thing that makes a later situation legible. You cannot see this in advance and the value is real anyway.

When a stretch feels pointless, do it well enough to keep what it offers. Not out of optimism but because the material may turn out to be needed.