In part one of this blog post, we defined the term “flow,” its characteristics and who discovered it. We also discussed some of the more common impediments to our flow and reviewed research related to multitasking—a popular but unproductive work habit. Part two will delve into the transformative benefits of achieving flow at work and in our personal lives. We’ll also explore strategies to regain focus and return to a state of flow where all the meaningful work happens, inspiring you to reach new productivity levels.
Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort.
Paul J. Meyer, Motivational Speaker
The Benefits of Achieving Flow
Recall the last time you were thoroughly absorbed in a task. Distractions vanished, time stretched, and you experienced a profound sense of focus and fulfillment. Achieving flow can unleash a potent, transformative sense of creativity and achievement, offering you personal and professional benefits that include:
- Increased productivity and efficiency: The enhanced focus and engagement you experience while in the flow state can strengthen your sense of connection to your work, which boosts your morale and prevents burnout. Peak performance is often a byproduct of flow states because engaging in an activity for sheer enjoyment and challenge rather than external rewards feels effortless. This intrinsic motivation helps you make better decisions faster, boosting your productivity and efficiency.
- Greater creativity and innovation: Working within a state of deep concentration enhances your cognitive processing ability and can lead to unique perspectives, novel solutions and innovative breakthroughs.
- Enhanced job satisfaction: Sustaining flow can boost self-confidence and inspire a feeling of mastery of your work, making you feel accomplished. This positive experience increases your overall work satisfaction, positively affecting performance and attitude. Flow states also offer a reprieve from external challenges, which can reduce stress and anxiety levels.
Increase Your Odds of Success
Now that you understand the benefits of reaching a flow state, let’s explore practical techniques to achieve and maintain this optimal state of productivity.
Reimagine your workspace
Minor changes to your workspace can radically improve your ability to focus and enhance creativity. Organize your workspace. Clutter is visually distracting and inhibits your ability to find what you need when you need it. Reduce noise pollution by wearing noise-canceling headphones, creating a separate area for quiet work and phone calls, and installing acoustic treatments to reduce sound transmission.
Remove distractions
With so much information coming at us from so many different sources throughout the day, it’s critical to decide whether these distractions are worth your attention at any time (social media, gossipy coworkers, 24-hour news cycle, energy-vampire friends) or only at designated times (partners, kids, pets, the news (it’s primarily terrible anyway). Set boundaries with your colleagues, friends, and family members by communicating your specific requirements related to your workspace and schedule.
Reduce information overload whenever and wherever possible. As Johann Hari suggests in his book Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention—And How to Think Deeply Again, try reading a physical newspaper once daily to gain perspective, rather than constantly looking at or listening to the news. Limit time spent scrolling through your social media feeds—which costs you more precious time than you think— by considering ways to reduce your social media use or remove the temptation by temporarily uninstalling the apps from your phone.
Manage your attention
After conducting a study of 2,250 participants, Harvard psychologists Matthew Killingsworth and Daniel Gilbert discovered that “our minds are lost in thought 47% of the time” rather than focused on our task. This “mind wandering” or “stimulus-independent thought” feels so natural to us that we aren’t even aware of it most of the time. It often includes ruminating on things that happened in the past and worrying about things that could happen in the future. The former usually leads to sadness and depression, while the latter frequently causes stress and anxiety.
Try Focused Attention Meditation to raise awareness of the present moment. Focusing on an object or physical sensation, such as deep breathing or guided imagery, enhances concentration.
Pursue mono-tasking
Mono-tasking or single-tasking is precisely what it sounds like—focusing only on one task at a time. Neuroscientist Earl Miller from MIT tells Hari, “The brain is like a muscle. The more you use certain things, the stronger the connection’s getting, and the better things work.” Miller recommends trying to single-task for ten minutes, then allow yourself to be distracted for a minute, then single-task for ten minutes again, and so on. He suggests that you can attain more extended periods of mono-tasking each time with practice and ultimately train your brain to resist distractions.
Aim for Flow
In part one of this blog post, we introduced Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, the researcher who discovered “flow,” and we reviewed the criteria and characteristics of flow. Now, let’s talk about specific steps you must take to reach the flow state:
- Identify and clearly define your goal. For example, state aloud what you’d like to accomplish. “I want to sculpt a fish out of this stone; I want to hike to the top of this peak; I want to create a pair of earrings out of silver.” Distraction and multitasking kill flow; it can only happen when you set aside everything else and deploy all your brainpower toward one mission. Clear goals and unambiguous feedback (usually from the activity itself) enable the continuous adjustment of our responses to meet the task’s required demands.
- Choose an activity that is meaningful to you. It should feel good to engage in the task for its own sake. Genuine enjoyment of the process or activity, not just the result, will help you achieve a flow state.
- Establish a routine to help you get into the right frame of mind for flow. Maintaining consistency is essential, whether stretching, a mindfulness exercise, taking a short walk outside, or sitting quietly with a cup of tea. The trick is developing a pre-flow ritual that signals your brain that it’s time to focus.
- Do something that pushes you to the edge of your abilities but not beyond it. “The best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile,” writes Csíkszentmihályi in his book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Shoot for an optimum balance where tasks are challenging but still match your skill level. If the task or activity is too easy, you’ll likely become bored quickly. If it’s too difficult, you can grow frustrated and burn out.
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by everything on your to-do list (which can be a considerable focus destroyer), especially the things that require intense concentration. But don’t get discouraged. Sometimes, taking a moment to remember what really matters to you and who and where you want to be in the near future can give you clarity and restore your focus, allowing you to engage in enjoyable, meaningful work.
Anne Evenson is a native Austinite and a proud Veteran’s spouse with over 20 years of marketing, communications and program coordination experience in the public, private and nonprofit sectors. She is also a sculptor, jeweler and all-around dabbler in the arts and loves to help military-connected individuals discover their inner creativity.
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