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That deep attention to what you are doing sounds like "flow" -- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's concept of optimal experience. See his talk here: http://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow?lan...

It has been discussed many times why work makes us happy and the most compelling is flow: https://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow?la...

It was also covered in the documentary "Happy".

I actually was thinking the article would discuss more in detail this or even just put a citation (he cited Keynes and Marx) but instead it went on a long personal anecdotal comparison after comparison.

I also was hoping the author would discuss the developing trend of people working from home and how that relates but.. nope.

IMO the article was too long for my liking. A fairly disappointing read.

According to this article, a creative person experiences heightened sensitivity to stimuli and exhibits paradoxical behavior. Then he/she chooses a medium for expression to channel the chaotic sensory and emotional experiences into one that is controlled more so by themselves, else how can we deem someone as creative until they create. Seems like we need to understand creativity a bit more, because as many users are commenting, some descriptions and questions from this article are vague and highly applicable the basic human experience (we're all creative! :))

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I looked for some resources by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (MC) who was referenced for studying creativity.

Here is what appears to be chapters 2 and 5 of his book Creativity (hosted by CS7601: Computational Creativity, host by Georgia Tech):

1. Ch. 2. - "Where Is Creativity?": http://www.cc.gatech.edu/classes/AY2013/cs7601_spring/papers...

2. Ch. 5 - "The Flow of Creativity": http://www.cc.gatech.edu/classes/AY2013/cs7601_spring/papers...

3. Class Website: http://www.cc.gatech.edu/classes/AY2013/cs7601_spring/

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Csikszentmihalyi also wrote Flow, which is about the psychology of optimal experience.

1. TED talk by MC: https://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow?la...

2. Flow - coined by MC: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)

Check out the book 'Flow' for one potential answer, or this TED Talk if you have less time: http://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow?lan...

Helpful. Thanks. I enjoyed a TED talk (http://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow) by the author of the book you suggested, I might read it.

⬐ loumf

Reading it now -- it's somewhat academic, but comprehensive. Many people have recommended Dan Pink's "Drive" as a good popular summary of the findings.

Flow would be a deep-dive after that -- I skipped Drive, because I was already reading a lot about it, and was looking for deeper information.

Peopleware also covers this topic from a programmer-centric perspective.

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.

I think companies would be better off hiring people not based on their IQ or skill level but by hiring people who love what they do, have done side projects and achieve flow in their work. People who achieve flow in their work will work harder and are more creative than others because they enjoy the process of solving problems. So the interview process should be to identify how often the given candidate achieve Flow (as defined by mihaly csikszentmihalyi)

.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow.htm...

2000? Csíkszentmihályi’s book (Beyond Boredom and Anxiety: Experiencing Flow in Work and Play) which introduced the term flow was published in 1975.

Here’s a TED talk by Csíkszentmihályi (2004): .html" rel="nofollow">http://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow.htm...

Also worth reading: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Robert Pirsig, 1974), The Birth of Tragedy (Nietzsche, 1872)

⬐ thristian

As a coder and some-time Tetris player, I'm always trying to get back to that state of awesome productivity called "flow". I always thought it was something that just randomly happened, or might be easier to access if you set up the right environment and waved a chicken about, but apparently there's more to it than that.

The most useful slide of the entire presentation is also on the man's Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Challenge_vs_skill.jpg I think I'll need to stare at it for a while longer and think about how those emotional states relate and how I might artificially jump from one to the next.

⬐ teamonkey

His book is really worth reading. I suspect his editor wanted it to be a self-help book and sometimes it reads that way, but it's strongly based on years of observations and collected evidence.

http://www.amazon.com/Flow-Psychology-Experience-Mihaly-Csik...