8 Unique Ways to Help You Find More Focus and Flow

When Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi became enthused by a Carl Jung lecture in the 1950s, he travelled to the USA to study what makes a meaningful life. What he discovered was flow - 

A state of optimal consciousness, where your actions and awareness merge. 

A state where you lose your sense of self and connect with your true essence. 

'The zone'. 

How often have you been in 'the zone' in the last week? 

What were you doing? How did it feel? 

How could you cultivate more flow? 

Here are 8 tips that will help you find 'the zone' so you can be more productive, creative and, ultimately, happy. 

 1. Focus on your MIT

In what groups of sports do people most frequently report flow?

Extreme sports. Why? Because they focus as if their lives depended on it. 

Flow follows focus. The neurochemical cocktail of flow -  dopamine, norepinephrine, endorphins, anandamide, oxytocin, serotonin is triggered by focus. 

Identify your most important task (MIT) by answering the following question - 

"If I could only perform one task excellently that would move me closer to my goal, what would that be?"

 2. Apply the 4% rule

For you to trigger a flow state, your task must be more challenging than your current skill level. 

The magic number is 4%. 

If you are writing, set a goal to write 4% more than you believe is possible. 

If you are meditating, meditate for 4% longer. 

If you are working, set the task to be 4% more challenging. 

4 % is, of course, an arbitrary number but it gives us something to aim at.  

 3. Bring your full concentration

Do you work with your phone next to you and get disturbed by notifications?

This could be blocking flow. It could be disrupting your concentration and adding cognitive load. 

After being inspired by my brother, I've recently placed time blocks on my email inbox.

"Environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behaviour." James Clear

But your hands mould the environment. Create space where it's easy to bring your full concentration. 

4. Act on your independent measures

How do you focus on the process and not the outcome?

Simple - focus on lead measures over lag measures. 

Lag measures are ones where the results lag behind the actions. Lead measures are independent of anyone else. 

Sending invites for your event, podcast or new business are lead measures. Revenue is a lag measure. 

Always remember to focus on what you can control and celebrate each step. 

5. Seek immediate feedback

How often do you measure your working sessions? 

What if you did measure your hours of deep focus?

I've been doing this to excellent effect. What I've found, and these findings are replicated in Cal Newport's book "Deep Work", is that you can achieve a lot in 4 hours of deep work per day. 

I use a timer called 'Pomofocus' to work in 90-minute slots. The timer encourages me to stay focused on the task at hand and provides me with feedback on how I'm doing. 

What could you do with the extra time if you focused purely on deep work?

6. Keep a scorecard

Tick off the hours as you go along. This gives you hits of dopamine, keeping you focused, energised and motivated when most would give up. 

The key is to measure the hours of deep work.

7. Allow actions and awareness to merge

You will know you're in flow when you are no longer thinking about your next move. 

People can experience this at work but also in meditation, nature or playing an instrument. 

Pay attention to that feeling and intend it in your future working sessions. It's worth it. 

8. Create a sense of control

By learning what to focus on, measuring time and setting clear goals you create a sense of control. 

When you focus on your locus of control, things flow to you instead of you trying to chase them. 

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Enjoy these practices, and let me know how you get on with them. 

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1 Quote

"Flow follows focus."

1 Question

"What could you commit to to help you experience more flow?"

1 Quality

Creativity

Create space to create. We are creative beings, enjoy this process.