Welcome to Zen and the Art of Work.
You might wonder, is this the right place?
We've got this peaceful setting,
some nice music going in the background, some soft touches here and there.
What does this have to do with work?
Well, I hope to show you, over the course of these lessons
that this peaceful state of mind, reflected in this setting that we've got here
can be the most creative, productive, and powerful ground from which we can work.
My goal is to teach you how to find that state
that calm, in even stressful settings
The techniques I'll be teaching here have been honed for more than a decade.
They've integrated thoughts of meditation, therapy, creativity
and several popular productivity ideas.
Over the years, I had to juggle many of my own interests.
I needed to learn how to make decisions about what to do, when
and how to put my focus on things where I wanted it to be.
These ideas here, in this course,
have helped not only myself but also many of my clients
and readers of the productivity books I've written.
The world can be chaotic and stressful.
We can't deny that. That is the case.
You can have a lot of demands placed on you.
It could be from your job, could be from your family, could be from yourself.
Demands can come from any number of directions
and probably multiple directions at the same time.
As a result, we can feel quite out of control
overwhelmed, even resentful of the things that are pushing against you.
Often, we can look forward to a vacation or a trip to the spa to help
That might work for a little while, but
how have you found that when you come back, there's that one email
that phone call, that something within the first few
days if not hours that throws you back to where you were before you left?
But wouldn't it be great to find that calm state
having less stress at work or at home
maybe be able to find direction, have a sense of control
and have these feelings throughout your days
not just when you go on vacation or leave work?
You want to be able to build paths
to the things you want. That you have a way
to think about where you are, where you want to be
and how to move the inevitable barriers that are in the way
between here and there.
And imagine that you can do all this while you're working
successfully and even enjoying your work.
That's where I'd like to help you get to.
And this is possible.
These videos are a set of exercises that can
help you find a way to creatively start guiding yourself.
You want a way that works at your pace.
So that you can meet obligations. And then ...
hopefully, find a growing sense of fulfillment
throughout. That fullfilment could be
financial, personal, whatever it means to you.
You want to find a rhythm of work.
Something that allows you to be productive, accomplish things,
and still feel calm throughout.
Now, this may seem different to you. It is.
It's a counterculture approach.
I fully admit that.
It may well go against the grain of things that you've been taught.
As an example,
we're often told we need to be hyperconnected
always within the reach of others.
Email, text, phone ...
Some of us even need to sleep with a phone by our side.
It's rare that we're allowed to just be.
And while we're told that this is the productive state,
I don't believe that it is. In fact,
it's destructive to any meaningful way
we would define the word "productivity".
In a sense, we're told, "be productive", ...
but we're in the conditions of being overwhelmed.
It's not that these tools are bad.
that's not the cause. The tools can actually be
powerful ... useful.
It's that we haven't figured out how we can put them within our day.
We haven't structured our environments.
We haven't learned where to place them well
Instead, you want to learn
how to use these tools so that they can suit you.
But, then that requires you being in charge of your work.
And that's what these lessons are designed to do.
They put you in charge.
They're about helping you to find a way to guide your work.
so that it works for you.
So, why Zen?
What does Zen have to do with work?
I believe that one of the most powerful sources
of meaningful work comes from this Zen state of mind.
Zen involves those moments of flow.
where we find a depth and richness in the present moment.
where we're fully attentive,
in tune with the moment. When we
finish something and come out feeling energized, refreshed
and then, when we end, we have this
feeling of accomplishment, where we rest
enjoyably, and feel fulfilled. We might even
start looking for more.
It's from that state of both relaxed
and heightened attention, where we lose ourselves in the work
that we find this creative well.
Where we often make our most powerful and even
beautiful works.
At the root of Zen is play.
Alright, so what does play have to do anything?
What does play have to do with work? What do I even mean by play?
I actually do mean the same play we find as toddlers.
Play is not wasting time.
In fact, it can be highly productive.
It's a natural state of mind, that's focused on the present.
inquisitive, exploring, creative
it's where we learn and build with joy.
Whether that's with calm or excitement, it's how we grow.
It can be a wonderful experience, when we find
play and the power it has to help us do solid work.
A good working session is often filled with that sense of play.
Where we're fully present, in the moment, and feel that,
what we're doing now is all there is to be doing. And that's why
play is so important to our work.
But, as adults we often drift away.
from this very critical element.
Guiding play in work is a practiced skill.
It's not something we just do.
As kids, our parents would make playgrounds for us.
They'd make these areas where we could play and do so
in a way that we wouldn't be worried about our environments. We'd just be there.
We'd be able to fully focus and engage in whatever it is we were doing.
Now, we need to practice, making
those environments for ourselves.
And the better we can guide play in our work, the more vibrant,
enjoyable, and self-directed our own lives can be.
This course is a set of exercises.
that can help you find that play in your work.
so you can bring out your most productive self,
however it is you decide to define that.
Each lesson is simple and powerful.
And, they each support the others.
I encourage you to practice them in order and one at a time.
Take your time.
Feel settled with one before you move on to the next.
They're all designed to build up and work together.
Also,
these lessons are exercises and not rules.
Outside of practice, just use them
when and where you feel they'd be helpful to you.
There's no right or wrong to them. They're a set of skills that you can
practice and get better at.
So, let's get started.
You'll need a few tools, but not many.
I've tried to keep this down to the bare essentials.
Most simply you can use pen and paper.
You can also add folders if you'd like, if you're using loose leaf paper.
Or, if you prefer the technological route, you could use
a task management application. That's fine, too.
I actually use a task system myself, but it's not necessary for this course.
If you've read any of the productivity books
I've written that involve a task application system
this course will integrate with that just fine.
Second is a calendar.
Physical or digital is fine. Either way.
This is a reminder.
This could be a kitchen timer or an application on your phone, watch, or computer.
You just need something that you can set to go off at a future point.
So, for our first assignment,
Gather and practice getting your materials.
For example, have a pen, paper, folder, calendar, and timer in a single spot on your desk.
Make them easy to get to, and keep other things out of the way.
If you've gone the digital route, practice getting to those quickly.
Open up the laptop, get the key commands the way you want them.
Have them set aside on a certain part of the desktop
or in the documents folder. Make them easy to get to.
And, if you can,
have a relaxed space. Somewhere you can play and work, let your mind wander
Minimize distractions to whatever degree you can or feels right to you.
When you're done with this exercise, when you feel settled and ready,
feel free to move on to the next lesson.
Here, we begin.
I want to congratulate you, commend you, you've made it here.
It's hard to make change.
But you're here and that means that somewhere
somehow, you decided to do exactly that.
To make a change. And that decision,
is what starts this all.
Beginnings can be exciting, but they can also be scary.
Maybe you've tried a number of productivity ideas over the years
and you've met little success.
That can be frustrating. I get it.
Ok. So what's this one going to do for you?
We'll it can help you on a path to get
the work you want done and to find peaceful focus along the way.
I know you're taking time to do this.
And I do not take time lightly.
I do believe that this course can help you.
If you follow along, really get into the exercises
It can help you develop not only your work, but
you ideas, too, your dreams, and your self
in whatever way you feel is meaningful to you.