Book Review [169] : Rework

'Rework' is a beautifully written work by Jason Fried and David Hansson. It's such a lovely read that you can finish it within couple of days if not in a day.

There are pretty good few lessons from this book.

Workaholics are not Heroes - It sounds pretty logical today, but I was kind of one 10 years back and I consider to be that even today. In my first job way back in 2005 I used to consider those people who leave office by 0630 PM as losers and mediocre and whose who burned midnight oil as actual geeks. This is pure poison and basically it kills good office culture. It should be avoided and this book underscores this point really well.

We should take responsibility of bad news and failures. We should not let the rumour mongers decide our response to failure.

Don't be a fake. No body likes plastic flower. Be natural and be spontaneous.

We need to know how far we can push some one. This is the thing I read few decades back from some Australian Cricket player when he talked about Steve Waugh leadership. He wrote that if Steve asks us to hit our head to the wall, we will do it without thinking twice. This is one of the most fundamental traits of a good leadership.

Perfect time never comes so don't defer your decisions waiting for that moment. Every decision made is a progress.

The single most important thing that is killing our productivity is interruption - Calls, Social Media etc. The one who can get long slot of free time can immensely improve one's productivity. 

Almost every point in this book is common sense and we all know about it but we hardly follow it. This book is about reworking on those points.

Highly Recommended (10/10)

Book Review [168] : The Almanack Of Naval Ravikant

I joined Hardoi on 14th July late evening and it took me close to three months to get things rolling and to create a kind of morning schedule. It rained quite a lot in Hardoi this monsoon and it stopped only in Sept.

I started with 'The Almanack Of Naval Ravikant' by Eric Jorgensen last week. Naval Ravikant has become a cult figure in modern techno pop culture and has been immensely popular and successful in different segments.

This book has been a refreshing read after a long time. Pithy book of ancient, medieval and modern wisdom packaged in a novel way. There is nothing new in this book but still it's a must read book for all of us specially for those who are in their mid thirties or forties. I am kind of an avid reader though I suffered kind of a lag in last half a decade mainly because of my demanding work engagements. This is my kind of a book. 

For the readers of this ancient blog I am putting here points that I like most:

• Reading/learning are the ultimate meta skill. One should never stop it.
• Distraction is a big killer and it makes your mind heavy and confused.
• Meditation every day is a must.
• Anger means loss of control over a situation and its suicidal.
• Work out every day is a must.
• One day should be kept free every week from mundane work.
• Inspiration is perishable. It should be acted upon immediately.
• Intentions do not matter, actions do.
• Become the best in the world at whatever you do. Keep refining yourself.
• World as hard as you can.
• Give more time on decision making.
• If you can't decide, then the answer is No.
• Criticise generally but praise specifically.
• Don't waste your time living some one else's life.

A highly recommended book (10/10).