Main Theses of LundinPaulChristensen2003 book

Try to do things, which you love. If you can't choose what you have to do, then try to make what you must do with fun. Try to get as much fun from your work today, not in the future.

Principles of efficient work

Efficient work is based upon following principles:

1. Choose your attitude
2. Play
3. Create joy for other people
4. Be present

Principle 1: Choose your attitude

You can always choose how to do some work, even if you can't choose what work to do. It is up to you to perform any piece of work so that you enjoy it. You have this freedom.

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Note: According to Vladimir Levi, In Russia, only 3 % of all people work in jobs, which they really like. In some countries this value is even lower (for instance, in France where only 1 percent of all people love their jobs).

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You spend a lot of time doing some work, which you may like or not. In any case you spend a considerable amount of your time (=your life) working. It is sensible to make this large part of your life as enjoyable as possible. Use your work as a training camp for

• personal development (concentration)
• meditative work
• practice concentration
• extend your knowledge by applying techniques you read about in books to your practical work
• expand your horizon of knowledge by doing new things etc.

Principle 2: Play

Well, in our craft (software engineering) playing is easy. Try to apply new techniques you learn about to your current work. This is fun per se, and sometimes it results in creative solutions, which wouldn't come about without playful approach.

Principle 3: Create joy for other people

Again, in our craft, there is one effective way (of many) to make other people (your co-workers) happy. Create nice, self-contained and finished pieces of work.

Imagine, you have just had an interesting idea. If you want me to enjoy this idea, do following things:

1. Explain this idea in a nicely written document with many pictures, diagrams etc.
2. Create a viewlet or an animated presentation, in which this idea is shown and/or explained
3. Create a nicely written (and well-tested) and documented program, which demonstrates this idea.

Reading such documents, which I can understand in the first reading, makes a lot of fun. In this way, you do three beneficial things:

1. You bring positive emotions into your life (you have started and finished a piece of work)
2. You bring positive emotions into lives of other people
3. You improve your skills (you learn something new, you learn to present your ideas etc)

Principle 4: Be present

Follow the Zen wisdom

When you work, then you should be concentrated on working. When you eat, then you should be concentrated on eating. When you rest, you should be concentrating on relaxing.

Changes take time

Don't expect instantaneous improvements. Any significant improvement takes time.