A Reconfiguration Phase

Towards the end of 2025 I went through a huge “what the fuck am I doing?” moment. I’d spent a year working on building a business around art, but I didn’t really know what that even meant. Did I want to sell art? Did I want to sell services? But the answer was always no.

So in a drastic move, I deleted all social media off my phone for 3 months. I stopped live streaming on Twitch, stopped posting anything, anywhere. What I really wanted to be doing with my time still eluded me at this point, so I took a step back and entered a reconfiguration phase. I had several books recommended I should read, and so this was the time I rediscovered a love of reading.

NOTE: This article is not paid marketing, nor is it a book review, merely a reflection on the change brought about by these books.

These books covered a lot of subjects, but also many similar and crossover topics. The main thing I was looking for was clarity around the subject of capacity.

In short, capacity is your available ability to do useful work well. It’s a combination of time, energy, focus, skill, and resilience that determines what a person can realistically take on and sustain.

This, as you may have realised, is very difficult to understand and implement into your daily life. And so I needed to explore this subject further, and these were the books I read in a surprisingly short time that helped me make decisions on future projects and daily life in general. In fact, the idea for this very website was formed as I read through these books.

Starting with Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the following books I read in this order as they introduce subjects that are referenced in the books that follow. Flow especially is referenced in almost all of them. If you are a creative looking for clarity, or looking for inspiration, I highly recommend taking the time to read them.

Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

This one is more of a clinical neuroscience and psychology book, focusing on motivation, engagement, and energy. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is the leader in this field and, even though my wife found this book hard to read, I personally loved it and managed to get through it quite quickly.

Despite being the heaviest read of the list, I believe it’s essential to read first to understand the concepts introduced in the later books. He talks about ideas and research around the concept of flow. The flow state of being so engaged in a task that everything else ceases to exist.

It’s fascinating, and honestly I might go back and read this again since finishing the others.

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink

Daniel argues that people do their best work when they have autonomy, mastery, and purpose, and that rewards alone are often a poor motivator for complex or creative work. Backed up by some very interesting research, this one is a good read whether you are a creative or an office worker. However, after reading it and assessing your workplace, you may just quit that job and look for somewhere else to work.

Deep Work by Cal Newport

My second favourite book from the list. Cal explains capacity for sustained attention and how modern work kills it. Why some tasks drain you even if they are important. He argues that the ability to focus without distraction on demanding tasks is increasingly rare and increasingly valuable, and that cultivating this skill leads to better work, faster learning, and more meaningful output.

I immediately implemented these concepts into my own workflow and discussed with the family how we could implement them into the entire household. We spend most of our work life working from home, and our daughter is home schooled. So making room for deep work was one of the most important changes we made, and the reason I’m able to focus on writing articles on this website, which I will delve into more deeply in a future article.

I thoroughly recommend reading this book, however be warned, you will view social media in a completely different light. Ie. delete it and never look back.

Range by David Epstein

Hands down my favourite book. I could not stop reading. Chapter after chapter in a single sitting, and I am not a “reader” and honestly hadn’t read a proper book in many years.

David argues that broad experience, varied interests, and exploring different fields can be a strength, especially in complex creative work, because people who draw from many areas often adapt better and make more original connections. It’s almost like he was describing my life. Before, I felt that I had a weakness as I didn’t have a speciality in any one field, yet broad experience in many fields. Which is why I often fall into tech support or “all rounder” roles.

Honestly, I cannot recommend this book enough. Each chapter starts with fascinating stories about people you may or may not have heard of, all of which are highly influential, from sport to art to a prime example of an ethical CEO, then followed up with discussion and referenced research. I think about this book daily.

Atomic Habits by James Clear

Now I have read this book previously and had already implemented a lot of it into my daily life for many years, so there were no surprises in there for me. However, if you have never read this, it may blow your mind.

James Clear’s main idea is that big change usually does not come from huge bursts of motivation, but from small habits done consistently over time. He breaks this down into steps that you can implement into your daily life, and it’s well worth the read.

The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr & Tony Schwartz

Now honestly, I could not read this book. It’s like stabbing yourself in the eye with an 80s letter opener with the words “I love business” inscribed on it. Honestly. WTF guys.

HOWEVER!

If you are into business as a business and don’t have a creative bone in your body, then go for it.

For me though, I read another review and summary to pluck the concepts out of it, the main one being: time management is not the key, it is in fact energy management.

Consider this scenario. After a morning of reading emails, then several far too long or unnecessary meetings, you find yourself crashing at 2pm and no longer able to focus, yet force yourself to battle through the rest of the day. Returning home exhausted, a glass or bottle of wine and TV into the late evening, terrible sleep, rinse and repeat, the self-defeating spiral.

Managing energy is far more important than managing time. Our whole family has made many changes using this concept. Eating healthier, increased exercise, which leads to better sleep, more energy the next morning, with the ability to focus on deep work. This is something we all need to take on board and make drastic changes in some cases.

I was once told by a world champion sports coach, “What’s the first and most important thing you spend your money on when you receive your pay cheque? If it’s not food, then it’s the wrong thing.”

High quality food is expensive, but your body will love you for it. This gives you the energy to be more active, sleep well, and be more focused on the important tasks. Which in turn will free up more time to enjoy a healthy life.

This is the list of books I read, in this order, and I implemented many changes as I read through them. Our whole family now have more organised time to focus on deep work, which then opens opportunities for flow state. We are eating far better, sleeping 8 hours a night, more active, and overall have more time and a clearer understanding of self and direction.

This site was born out of this list of books, and who knows what you may get out of them?