Three rules to get you in the flow.
Everyone can remember a time when they got lost in a task.
Nothing can distract you. You are in a different state of mind.
But then you glance at the clock in the corner of your screen and two hours have passed.
“How did that happen?”, you wonder.
Going with the flow
“You can only put your conscious attention on one thing at a time. If that’s all that has your attention, you’re in flow.”
― David Allen, Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
Psychologists call this state flow.
When all your attention and focus is invested in one task. No distractions or multitasking.
If you can get into this state, then by all measures, you will be highly productive.
However, the big challenge is getting enough space and time to get into a state of flow in the first place.
Studies have shown that it takes between fifteen and thirty minutes of unbroken focus to get into that mental state.
Working in busy offices and busy homes makes it all the more challenging to achieve.
To help you get into your flow, here are three steps to follow:
1. Switch off Notifications
The first step is to remove interruption and distraction as much as possible.
The means turning your phone to silent and setting it face down. Or even better put it in another room, or lock it in the car.
The longer and more hassle it is to get to the phone to check, the more likely you are to resist doing it.
Same applies for emails. Shut down your email software and go offline if possible.
It can and will be hard at first. There is going to be a level of worry that you might miss something or not respond fast enough.
The truth is though, that other people aren’t really going to go bananas if you don’t respond for a couple of hours. In fact, once you are up and running in the pattern, then they will grow to not expect immediate responses.
Putting space between you and these distractions will give you the headspace to begin to focus and work towards your flow state.
2. Put on some tunes
The second step is especially useful for those who work in public spaces, such as open offices.
Putting on a set of headphones, not only insulates you from outside now, but it also sends a signal to your colleagues that you are focusing on something and they should avoid interrupting you.
Some people also suggest you make it known to your colleagues that you are trying a new concentration routine and if you have the headphones on, then would they mind not disturbing you unless it is super urgent.
This only works of course, if you actually make time when you are available and willing to help. Sitting with your headphones on all day, every day will just nullify the symbolic effect.
The other part of the equation is the type of music you listen to on your headphones.
Scientific studies have shown that music with lyrics, causes your brain to concentrate part of its processing power on comprehending the lyrics.
The best type of focus music is mellow and subtle instrumental music. Most of the music streaming services have dozens of playlists with titles such as “Deep Focus” and “Study music”.
3. Sit down and start
The final, and in some ways, the most important step is to actually sit down and start working.
The only way to get to a state of *flow *is to make it through those first twenty-five minutes and launch yourself into a focus session.
In his recent post, Darius Foroux explains the importance of sitting down and doing one small thing to get you started.
It’s simple, but it isn’t easy. Oftentimes, we do everything in our power to avoid that first step. We grab another cup of coffee, go for a walk, read a book, run errands. Before I wrote this piece, I meticulously rearranged my bookshelf. I tried to escape. The voice inside my head told me to turn on Netflix. — Darius Foroux
To get to the *flow *state we need to sacrifice the temptations of procrastination and force out head into making some wiser choices.
Conclusion
As society becomes more distracted, there are greater rewards transpiring for those who can get focused and produce a high output.
Something which was previously limited to Inbox Zero strategies and self-help box is becoming a more sought after skill.
Learning the steps and skills required to guide yourself into a flow state on-demand, will become all the more valuable as time goes on.
Hopefully using the steps outlined above you too will be able to “hit your flow”.
Thanks for reading