10 Tips for Living Life in Flow State
Striving For Flow State
We all strive for FLOW, a state in which we are our most creative, adventurous, and productive selves. This is a state which can only be entered once heavily engaged and focused on the task at hand. The success of your life will be determined by how often you strive to find FLOW.
FLOW is simply the state of being fully immersed in a given task with an energized momentum. It is where you are at you operate at peak performance. It becomes so captivating that the worries of the world around you wash away in the waves of creativity and persuasion that this state brings with it.
There is no prescription for finding FLOW, though you can decipher in your own mind the best route for yourself. For me, it happens after exercising and meditation, and begins with focusing on a single or complementary collection of tasks.
Here are 10 tips you can use to ensure that you are able to actualize a life in the FLOW state.
Practice Mindfulness. Meditation is the most important daily practice one can utilize to live a better life in all capacities. Giving your mind time to remove the clutter and reach an ‘inbox zero’ state daily will allow you to operate in your most productive state constantly. For me, I’ve found that anywhere between 40-60m upon waking up to be the best place to start. No apps, no mantras, just sitting quietly and letting your mind naturally cleanse.
Keep the first few hours of your day screen-free. Modern technology, especially smartphones, are designed to create desire and fulfillment through social entertainment, notifications, and general distraction. If you are able to start your day without screens and distractions you will better be able to establish what you want to achieve in that day and begin the day with conviction.
Be your own gatekeeper. You are the arbiter of your own time, and it is the single most valuable asset you will ever own in your life. To stop others from taking yours, I encourage most people to use Do Not Disturb on their phones for at least 80% of the day. (I only allow open calls from 12:00-15:00 daily) The goal here is not to stop communicating, but to stop interacting with people who do not add value to your life. I take calls from key stakeholders, family, and friends at any time, and force my phone to push those calls through. Oh, and turn off all notifications from all apps, including and especially messaging and email. I recommend having them all deliver quietly to your notification center, where you can manage and view them on your own time.
Maker’s Schedule, Manager’s Schedule. Inspired from an essay from Paul Graham under the same name, this ideology lays out the foundation for entering FLOW often. First, it establishes that there are some portions of your day where you must be a manager: taking calls, attending meetings, putting out fires, etc. This is a terrible time to be creative and effective, as you will be constantly context-switching. He calls for blocking off large swaths of undisrupted time every day that will allow you to enter FLOW, during which the outside world simply does largely not exist.
Be your own champion. If you have to rely on others for motivation then you will always be destined to fail. Most people lack motivation purely because they are currently spending their time on things that are life-draining. When you begin to spend your time on people and things that you truly care about, you have every bit of motivation you will ever need.
Ignore your comfort zone. No one ever did anything great whilst inside of their comfort zone. Neither will you. Ignore that desire for comfort and learn to strive in moments of ambiguity, stress, and fear.
Automate. Do you have tasks in your life that are of high importance but require little to no creativity? Automate them.
Delegate. Do certain tasks require high levels of creativity but lack a true level of importance? Delegate them.
Abandon. What about the things that lack importance and creativity? Abandon them. This does not just apply to tasks, but also relationships, distractions, and habits.
Remember why you started. It is typical on your own journey to get distracted or discouraged on the way to achieving your goals. James Clear, in his book Atomic Habits, outlines a part of the process known as the ’trough of sorrow’. This is the period of time in which you are deep into pushing towards your goals yet haven’t seen any results yet. It is most important to continue to push on and remind yourself that there was a reason you started all of this in the first place.
Reevaluate to Find Your Flow
If you are willing to take a candid view of your current life and confirm that you are spending your precious time on this planet doing things that truly will make an impact, you will succeed.
FLOW isn’t just a state that allows one to build, but more importantly creates moments of peace, happiness, and contentment.
These are the moments we strive for. These are the moments I live for.
