You are said to be in a flow state when fully immersed in an activity. Popularised by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Jeanne Nakamura, the flow state is said to occur while pursuing something that you enjoy and in which you are pretty skilled.
People who have experienced flow have described the experience as a highway for hyper-productivity and creativity.
Let us quickly explore ways to achieve it and the various benefits of pursuing it.
You are much more likely to achieve a flow state when your mind is free from distractions, so ideally, it would be good to take things off your mind and store them elsewhere.
You can do that by simply opening up an note-taking app like Routine before a work session and writing down every thought/idea that pops into your head.
This exercise intends not to make a perfect list of ideas but to create a trusted place to store these ideas, and this is a method advocated by David Allen in his book, Getting Things Done.
The flow state is also commonly experienced when you are engaged in challenging and stimulating activities over a long period.
So when you have a challenging or stimulating task, it would help you block a longer time slot and then get started on it.
You can again block time on an app like Routine or the Google Calendar.
Blocking time will ensure that you don't have anything else on your plate during that period, increasing the chances of achieving the flow state.
Finally, another strategy to achieve a flow state would be to clean up the clutter from your workspace to ensure that you are not distracted.
Some of the most significant advantages of achieving the flow state are:
So that is about it when it comes to Flow state. If you would like to learn more about it, we highly recommend the book Flow by psychologist Mihály CsĂkszentmihályi.
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Shiva is a subject matter expert in communication, marketing, productivity, and learning systems. He has previously contributed to many blogs and newsletters, including Validated, Mental Models, HackerNoon, and several brands. You can find Shiva on LinkedIn or email him at shiva(at)routine.co.