The Now Habit

I've been reading The Now Habit, by Neil Fiore, the last few days. A couple of thoughts stick out in my mind. The one insight that I got out of it was the idea of "guilt-free play, quality work". As I mentioned in my last post, I can sometimes take the planning/productivity thing too far. I've got a couple weeks off work at the moment so I'm working on balancing some fun play with all the little projects and todos I would normally spend my time on. This concept came at a good time, when I was already considering that I needed a personal hobby or something that I enjoyed doing to give me a little renewal on a regular basis. So I went out and bought Flight Simulator 2004, something I've always wanted to do, and I'm slowly learning how to fly. Someday I'd like to learn how to fly real airplanes, but at the moment a simulator is perfect. I'm also reading some fun books. Because I'm bouncing back and forth between work on stuff that needs to get done, and playing with flight simulator or reading I've found I get more done than if I tried to not play (and failed) and I don't feel bad about the play. My wife has also been good about giving me a little free time.

Other than that its mostly just a recap of a lot of things people already know about - visualization, self-talk, scheduling, focusing on the next step. He wraps a lot of these basic concepts in fancy language with some references to research and calls it good. Personally, I'm glad I read the book for the play/work concept, but I wouldn't recommend it to others. I think that without a good understanding of the Character Ethic described in 7 Habits most people would take Fiore's advice as an excuse to live easy, unproductive lives - essentially an excuse to procrastinate. If you can go into it with a clear understanding of your own purpose and mission, however, the concept of guilt-free play can help you through the rough spots that nobody enjoys.