Tips for Acheiving a Flow State: Schedule It!

josephnilo — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 01:43:27 +0000

As a creative professional, I've found a great trick in enhancing my productivity -- scheduling around my best periods of Flow. From the Wikipedia entry:

Flow is the mental state of operation in which the person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing by a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity.

If you're interested, I suggest reading more on the subject. You might gain some insight into yourself and get some explanations for your periods of effortless productivity. My best times for easing into Flow are: 8 AM to 10 AM for technical-related activities; 2 PM to 4 PM for creative activities; and maybe another small opportunity from 8 PM to 10 PM for further creative output. Why? I don't know. I feel like these are my natural rhythms for activity. And I've learned over the years to schedule the right activities in the right windows of opportunity so as to ease into the productive Flow state . . . e.g. encoding and uploading video, web design, spreadsheet organization, bill paying, etc. in my morning Flow period. Lunch, power nap, double shot of espresso, and then I'm ready for a creative afternoon-- writing, video editing, motion graphics. I know I'm in a Flow state when I lose track of time and get lost in whatever project I'm working on. I definitely am not watching the clock or procrastinating while in the wonderful grips of Flow. Further Actions: • Spend a few weeks noticing if there are patterns to when you acheive your Flow state. Write them down or put them in your calendar for further review. • Break it down further based on activity. What were you doing? Being creative? Being technical? House Cleaning? • Start to schedule the correct activity in the correct Flow period.

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Tips for Acheiving a Flow State: Schedule It!