What is the flow state?
Flow is the experience of being completely immersed in what we are doing, a state where time stops and we feel pleasure, delight, and creativity. We are completely immersed in the present.
Why do we need it?
The happiest people are not the ones who achieve the most. They are the ones who spend more time than others in a state of flow.
We have to focus on increasing the time we spend on activities that bring us to this state of flow.
This state can also make us more productive in our profession or any other activity. when we enjoy an activity we automatically do it better.
The Seven Conditions for Achieving Flow (According to researcher Owen Schaffer of DePaul University)
The happiest people are not the ones who achieve the most. They are the ones who spend more time than others in a state of flow.
We have to focus on increasing the time we spend on activities that bring us to this state of flow.
This state can also make us more productive in our profession or any other activity. when we enjoy an activity we automatically do it better.
The Seven Conditions for Achieving Flow
- Knowing what to do.
- Knowing how to do it.
- Knowing how well you are doing.
- Knowing where to go (if navigation is involved).
- The task is challenging enough.
- You have the skills for the task.
- Being free from distractions.
Strategy 1: Choose a difficult task (but not too difficult!)
If something is too easy we can quickly become bored or distracted. To enter the flow state we need something that challenges us. But, if the task is too challenging we are more likely to quit, or worse, not even start.
Add a little something extra, something that takes you out of your comfort zone but not to where it’s impossible.
Strategy 2: Have a clear objective
Games and video games, in particular, are amazing in making you achieve the flow state. They immerse you in their world and provide you with detailed instructions on what you need to do. Travel there, kill him, bring this, talk to him. Unfortunately, in real life, it’s not that simple.
Try to give yourself clarity by asking yourself: What is my objective for today’s session of work? what do I wish me and my team will achieve?
Once you start working, keep the objective in mind but don’t obsess over it, focus on the moment, on the work.
When Olympic athletes compete for a gold medal, they can’t stop to think how pretty the medal is. They have to be present in the moment— they have to flow.
Strategy 3: Concentrate on a single task
When we say we’re multitasking, what we’re really doing is switching back and forth between tasks very quickly. If only we were computers. that could’ve worked amazingly, but we are not. We end up spending all our energy alternating between tasks, instead of focusing on doing one of them well.
Concentrating on one thing at a time may be the single most important factor in achieving flow. And for that, we need To be in a distraction-free environment.
How to stay focused
- Don’t look at any kind of screen for the first hour you’re awake and the last hour before you go to sleep.
- Start your work session with a ritual you enjoy and end it with a reward. Train your mind to return to the present when you find yourself getting distracted.
- Practice mindfulness or another form of meditation. Training the mind can get us to a place of flow more quickly. Meditation is one way to exercise our mental muscles.
- Turn off your phone or enable the “Do not disturb” function before you intend to achieve flow. There is nothing more important than the task you have chosen to do during this time.
- Try the Pomodoro Technique: work for 25 mins then take a 5 min break. For me, a 50/10 split works the best.
- Work in a space where you will not be distracted from external sources (noises, people, music)
- Bundle routine tasks Such as sending out invoices, making phone calls, responding to e-mails, and do them all at once. Define a clear time for these tasks and stick to it.
