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How Finding Your Flow State Could Improve Productivity By Samantha Francis - Voices Wellness
Tips and tricks to help immerse yourself fully into the task at hand. Let’s be real: procrastination gets to the best of us, no matter how motivated or well-organised we are. Derived from the Latin verb procrastinare and the ancient Greek word akrasia, it means to put something off until tomorrow or to act against your better judgement. It?s knowing you have an assignment due tomorrow but choosing to bingewatch your favourite Netflix series instead and it’s worrying so much about a work project that you can barely complete it in time. If you’re looking to improve your productivity and minimise procrastination, the key could be finding your flow state. A concept popularised by positive psychologists Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Jeanne Nakamura, flow state refers to the feeling where one is fully immersed in whatever they are doing, under the right conditions. In an inter view wit h Wired magazine, Csikszentmihalyi said: “The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follow inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you’re using your skills to the utmost.”
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Colloquially, it’s known as being “in the zone” and is often associated with creative activities like painting, drawing, or writing. For the athletic, it can also occur while engaging in physical sports like soccer, tennis, dancing, and running. In a nutshell, most people naturally find themselves in a flow state when doing what they enjoy.
Create a ritual to follow Ready yourself for an activity that requires high concentration by creating a series of actions to ease yourself into the task at hand. It could be as a short as 2 five-minute mediation to refocus your mind, a short walk in nature, or even brewing your favourite coffee or tea.
Over time, being in a flow state can better emotional regulation, increase happiness and engagement, as well as improve performance in areas like teaching, learning, athletics, and artistic creativity.
Start with the most important task Even if you’re good at multi-tasking, doing too many things at a go could create distractions that make it hard to attain flow state. Consider focusing on one major task that require the most brain power, before moving onto the others on your to-do list.
Creative pursuits are an easy way to find your flow state. Here’s how you can find your flow state: Do something you love Work might not always be enjoyable but being able to enter your day with a positive mindset helps. Aim to find a balance between your skill set and a level of challenge you can handle, to help you better ease into a flow state as you work on your task. Csikszentmihalyi says: “If challenges are too low, one gets back to flow by increasing them. If challenges are too great, one can return to the flow state by learning new skills.”
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Eliminate distractions Whether you’re working from home or the office, distractions can be aplenty– from snacks in the pantry to your social media feed. Create a peaceful work environment for yourself by keeping away things you don’t need and putting your smart phone on a “do not disturb” mode. Identify your peak hours for creativity Take note of when your mind and body functions best, whether it’s late at night or the morning after a good night’s rest. Making time to work on your day?’s most important task during these peak creative and productive hours can help you reach flow state faster.
