My job went to India
I like to wander around in bookstores looking at all sorts of things, from children’s books to programming manuals, just walking around, consciously letting the different covers, colors, textures, shapes, take over…
That’s how I came across My Job Went to India. I first got attracted by the bright yellow and red, then the catchy title, and finally the funny but puzzling photo on the cover. I picked it up, opened it randomly in the middle and ended up reading chapter 14: “Practice, Practice, Practice” in which the author, an ex music student, draws the parallel between practicing music and programming. It’s not only an interesting approach, but also one that really speaks to me since, just as the author, I graduated from college with a music degree.
I bought the book right away and started reading it on my way home.
I can’t tell you how inspired I was. I guess you could see it as “52 ways to save your job” as it says on the cover, if you’re a programmer… but this book is really about how to become better at whatever it is that you do professionally. Although it’s written for “real” programmers, the principles exposed are universal, and I recommend to every web (or print) designers out there to read it, you won’t regret it. The writing is direct, simple, very natural and fun. Each chapter (52 in total) is only a few pages long. You can get through each one in about 15 minutes, but if you read only one per day (I recommend in the morning, with your coffee, or commuting), you can let it sit in the back of your mind for a while and get the best out of it.
It’s very GTD oriented in a way. At the end of each chapter, there’s a list of possible “next action” (untitled “Act on it!”) that you can implement right away if you want. And this is probably My Job went to India’s biggest strength: everything in there is highly practical, including the way the information is organized, and the structure of the different sections.
It’s also a book you can pick up again and again, and get something out of it every time. You could easily use it as part of your GTD yearly review.
If you’re a freelancer, working in a creative field, you should definitely check it out.
That’s why I like to wander in bookstores…