We read and we critique

Mihaly’s expertise and mastery of this field is evident from the book. This book is in the form of Q&A. Mihaly has done years of deep research on the topic of optimal experience – characteristics of flow and how to get into flow. A lot of methods he recommends come from practical experience – planning how you will do a task even if it is as mundane as washing vessels, cleaning your workspace or decluttering your environment, paying attention to what you are doing and making deeper use of your senses while doing it.   The book could have been condensed further as a lot of points are repetitive. We have all experienced the joy of getting into flow at one time or the other in our lives. These have been instances where we have thoroughly enjoyed what we were doing and were so completely absorbed that we have lost track of time and ourselves. It is definitely worth it to read the book to see how we can recreate more such moments for ourselves at work and outside work, moments spent ...

This is by far the best book I have read this year. Despite the crazy work schedule during the week that I was reading this book, I just couldn’t put it down, or rather, hit the pause button. Of course, the fact that there were only 5 days before the library loan ended also motivated me to listen to the book at breakneck speed. I took every single chance that I got – daily walks, lunch and tea breaks, short breaks between work calls and tasks, before going to sleep, while doing household chores. In the words of the social scientist, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, I was in the flow (more on Mihaly’s book Flow to follow in another book review)   The book is a captivating take on how geography plays a pivotal role in political strategies of nations. The author, Tim Marshall, is a journalist and explains strategies of various countries beautifully and systematically. He takes us through 10 maps to explain the global politics – Russia, China, USA, Latin America, Western Europe, Africa, M...