I don't think he'd argue that doing such things is always possible, all the time, but I think he might argue that we should try to move in those directions, even when our lives and feelings sometimes feel like something out of Dilbert or Houellebecq's Whatever.
#2 is a serious misunderstanding of flow[0] and is against research arguing that flow states facilitate learning[1].
Flow is not easy-peasy non-frustration time, it is getting "fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity." To deny yourself that is blocking yourself from the most productive and rewarding of human experiences.
One of the fundamental ideas of flow is that when the task is challenging enough to break one out of the state, additional skills are learned to return to the flow state.[2]
In my opinion, to achieve your maximum potential as a programmer, you should be striving to hit a flow state as much as possible.
[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)#Education
[1]: https://www.learning-theories.com/flow-csikszentmihalyi.html
[2]: https://www.amazon.com/Flow-Psychology-Experience-Perennial-...
Antifragile https://www.amazon.com/Antifragile-Things-That-Disorder-Ince...
High Output Management https://www.amazon.com/High-Output-Management-Andrew-Grove/d...
The Master Switch https://www.amazon.com/Master-Switch-Rise-Information-Empire...
Thinking Fast and Slow https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Fast-Slow-Daniel-Kahneman/dp...
We as devs tend to seek optimal solutions as if they were a simple numeric quantity, where more/higher=better. We know this is not how things are, but the mental model is seductive in in its simplicity.
What I have learned over the years is that it is the constant change between different forms of attention and focus that drive me to be my best. Which means time, real time, away from what I do for work. And when I return to work after doing so, I appreciate it all the more.
You might be interested in Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's book, Flow, if you have not yet read it. Although it has nothing to do with game playing per se, it helped clarify many aspects of my thinking when it came to why I felt I was 'wasting' time while gaming, and why I was wrong in that assessment.
https://www.amazon.com/Flow-Psychology-Experience-Perennial-...
It really has opened my eyes about how to deal with having a negative attitude and understanding the driving forces behind being in the "flow"
I have not read the book yet but it is on my reading list. I'm currently going through "Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience" [2] by the same author and it is illuminating to see the author examine a simple process such as enjoying a walk and reveal the intricate interplay of our consciousness, attention and self.
[1] http://www.amazon.com/Creativity-Psychology-Discovery-Mihaly...
[2] http://www.amazon.com/Flow-Psychology-Experience-Mihaly-Csik...
[1] http://www.amazon.com/Flow-Psychology-Experience-Mihaly-Csik...
The researcher responsible for the term and idea wrote a book saying as much. https://www.amazon.com/Flow-Psychology-Experience-Perennial-...
It’s great that making eggs is easy enough for you that it isn’t engaging, but that isn’t the case for everyone (I need to try to fry eggs over easy. I’m not a good cook) You can also trick your mind into entering this state with a wide variety of tasks.