Finding flow
Based on a far-reaching study of thousands of individuals, Finding Flow contends that we often walk through our days unaware and out of touch with our emotional lives. As a result of this inattention, we find ourselves constantly bouncing between two extremes: during much of the day we live inundated by the anxiety and pressures of our work and obligations, and during our leisure moments, we tend to live in passive boredom. Part psychological study and part self-help book, Finding Flow is a prescriptive guide that helps us reclaim ownership of our lives. The key, according to Csikszentmihalyi, is to challenge ourselves with tasks that require a high degree of skill and commitment. Instead of watching television, play the piano; transform a routine task with a different approach. In short, learn the joy of complete engagement. Though they appear simple on the surface, the lessons in Finding Flow are life-changing. By crystallizing these concepts - developed through a life's work and research at the University of Chicago - into clear guidelines, Csikszentmihalyi has crafted a profound and momentous work that provides readers with the tools they need to live richer, more vital lives.
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What Hacker News says
- Summoning that successful kind of creative, productive, free play state of mind is really difficult in software coding job interviews. There's a lot of back and forth, warming up as well as looking up things and experimenting to reach that flow state. Once you're in it, you know you're in it. You've shipped robust apps thanks to it.
Having to explain that almost instinctive process to a complete stranger who has control over your career and income can really hamper or destroy the ability to get into that groove. I've found it really useful to know about flow, what can get it going and when it's just not happening, and most interviews just aren't set up to encourage it. Csikszentmihalyi wrote a shorter book called "Finding Flow" which speaks of creating situations that bring out the best in others and us.
- Sapiens. It has been helpful on two levels - 1. For my limited historical knowledge, it's a good crash course. 2. On a higher level, it explains why culture is a glue that keeps the wheels of any civilization spinning.
Finding Flow
- 1. Dan Lyons: Disrupted
2. Stephen King: Joyland
3. Ray Kroc: Grinding it Out
4. Antonio Garcia Martinez: Chaos Monkeys
5. Jonah Berger: Contagious
6. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Finding Flow
7. Calum Chase: Surviving A.I.
8. Dan Ariely: Payoff
- Leave it to Psmith - 10/10 Anna Karenina - 8/10 The Code of the Woosters 8/10 Fooled by Randomness 7/10 Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life 8/10 How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia 9/10 Reluctant Fundamentalist 9/10 The Sense of an Ending - Julian Barnes 8/10 The Last Question - Asimov - 9/10 The Magic of Thinking Big - 6/10 The catcher in the Rye 8/10 Models 7/10 High Fidelity - Nick Hornby 8/10 The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman 7/10 The Surrender Experiment - 10/10 Untethered Soul - 9/10 The Autobiography of a Yogi - 7/10 Raja Yoga - Swami Vikekandanda - 7/10 Something Fresh, something new - 7/10 Karma Yoga - Swami Vikekandanda - 8/10 Thinking, Fast and Slow - 9/10 Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates 10/10 The Pearl by John Steinbeck 7/10
- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is the guy to read on flow. Try his book, "Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life"
Not exactly on your point, but here he is on video http://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow/
For a different approach, try this article, 'Your Never-ending (and Needless) Pursuit of “the Zone”' 1) You are living in the feeling of your thinking—whose quality is constantly in flux. 2) negative thoughts (actually, all thoughts) are random, neutral, and powerless 3) simply stay in the game.
edit: Never ending pursuit link link added http://garretkramer.com/your-never-ending-and-needless-pursu...
edit2: The video does offer one response to your question, especially when he discusses the chart that appears at 15:28. Adjust arousal and control to home in on the flow state.
- Besides the already good technical book suggestions, I am going a bit off the path here, but these books have made me a better developer. "Endurance" about Sir Ernest Shackleton's incredible failed expedition to the South Pole has a lot of parallels to any software project. Teaches you about setting a high goal, finding the right team, overcoming failure, being scrappy, and keeping your team together inspite of the odds. Another non-standard book is "Finding Flow" by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi which is about psychology of happiness at work or life.
