A part-time job can give you full-time habits. That’s the real paycheck.

The money from a shift job runs out fast. What stays is everything the job made you practice without asking: turning up when you would rather not, staying civil to someone who is not, finishing a task you did not choose. Those parts follow you into every job after, including the ones you actually want. Nobody hands you a certificate for them, which is why they are easy to miss while you are tired and counting hours.

After a shift this week, name one thing you got better at that has nothing to do with the tasks. Write it down somewhere you will find it in a year.