Learn how getting into flow state deliberately increases your overall well-being, time perception, and life satisfaction.
We continue the theme for December, Flow State. Here's the second post.
Embracing Flow State Alchemy: Beyond Productivity to Wholeness
In your quest for efficiency and success, you may be overlooking a powerful transformative tool that goes beyond mere productivity: the state of flow. Flow state, characterized by a complete immersion and engagement in what you're doing, transcends ordinary experience. It brings a sense of fulfillment that is deeply intertwined with your mental and physical health. What you may not have realized is, in addition to being a prime productivity inducer, flow state itself is like an essential vitamin for your mind-body-perception states. In part, flow is about doing more things, more easily. It's also about being fully present and immersed in your tasks, creating a harmony that resonates through every aspect of your life.
Discovering the flow state is akin to uncovering an alchemical process within yourself that transforms your everyday experiences into something richer and more meaningful. It is a state where time seems to both expand and contract, where tasks become joyous expressions of your abilities, and where your mind and body align in perfect synchrony. By embracing flow, you embark on a journey towards a more holistic sense of well-being, finding balance in your life and unlocking your full potential.
Time, Space, Work, and Achievement in Flow
Your perception of time, space, work, and achievement shifts when you're in a flow state. In these moments, time doesn't just tick by; it flows, ebbs, and sometimes seems to stand still. This altered perception of time allows you to engage with your tasks in a way that feels less pressured and more fulfilling. The space around you becomes your arena of creativity, where your surroundings either fade into the background or become part of your rhythmic dance with the task at hand.
You've quite likely entered into this level of flow state unintentionally, on a long project session, a home project such as painting, or an athletic effort that seems to transcend time. Flow state is a natural part of how human beings process time, perception, and energy. It's characterized by a sense of immersion, immediacy, and focused naturalness that feels like a transcendant and intimate dance among the movements, thoughts, and explorations of the activity. It's like an active surrender into the flowing energy of whatever it is you're working on, while time seems suspended around you until at last, inevitably, you descend back into 'ordinary time'.
Yet, much as flow state is a natural experience, you may never have learned how to deliberately cultivate it, nor learned the importance of flow state to your mental and energetic health as a well-functioning human. It's not a skill we're taught in home, family life, or relationship teachings, and it's not even one that doctor-based medicine would acknowledge as a mental requirement. Most work environments as well, paradoxically while demanding more and more and more from you, deny you the very preconditions that would enable to to produce that "more", more easily by encouraging deep work. Most home environments, particularly those with many family members or difficult, non-flow-interested partners, can damage and destroy your ability to engage with flow state as well. For all its centrality to human experience, you may be immersed in environments that absolutely aren't supporting it. If you struggle with feeling your life experience is thready or unfulfilling, you may be suffering from lack of flow.
Crafting Your Day for Flow: Strategies
Begin to think about how you can intentionally design your day to enter into a flow state. Identify when you feel most willing to enter into a long, multi-hour session of flow – it may be in the morning or afternoon. There are often, two flow "peak times" you may find available to you in your daily energy. Dedicate these prime flow periods to opening up to focused, long-arc work that involves a blend of both creation and exploration. At least three continuous, uninterrupted hours is a standard period to set aside.
Yes -- I know. I did say at least three UNINTERRUPTED hours. Now do you see why society, life, time and relationships usually deny flow, rather than support it?
So, realize you may need to do some serious day-shaping. Trust me, it's worth it. Find and create those long, uninterrupted blocks of time. If you have to get agreement from the people around you, or if you have to simply take the time by being away from wherever they are, then do it. In the workplace, create at least one day where there are NO meetings. This is a best practice whether you're going to use it for flow state or not. At home, find your uninterruptable, unassailable time and place, your "room of one's own". Make it an agreement that no one enter into this time, place, or space while you're truly in flow. (FYI: People who don't honor this may need to be curated out of your life. I'm quite serious on that, but I'll cover it elsewhere. If you don't, you're selling yourself short so that they can get a free ride on your attention span. Don't let them.)
During these times, eliminate distractions. Once you're really in flow state, you won't even be interested in them anyway, but set up the preconditions for focus by putting away, setting aside, putting in the next room, etc. everything that might interrupt your session. Simultaneously, bring what you want and need close to hand -- water, tea, snacks, notebooks, pens. The more you work with your own flow state, the more you'll tune in to exactly what you need.
Next, put on whatever background canvas your mind-body likes, provided it's not a distraction. Music, favorite non-demanding binge shows, or silence -- whatever inputs your Inner Woman or Inner Man wants for the session.
Set your general direction for the session. What are you working on? Project, homework, coding, design, new business products? What explorations do you need and want to create in these areas?
Have a notebook handy to capture the succession of activities or directions. I've found that my working flows are usually quite full of clarity of how they lead from one to the other, and that capturing that progression is amazing to read back later.
Lastly -- surrender. The hardest part.
Surrender to Creativity: Flow State as a Path to Fulfillment
To truly experience the creative power of flow, you need to let go. Flow state is a combination of setting a course, then letting intuition begin to move you around the canvas. This means releasing your grip on expectations and allowing your mind to explore and experiment. In a state of flow, the processes and explorations you follow aren't forced. They emerge naturally as you lose yourself in your work. This surrender isn't a loss of control; it's a release into the freedom of creative expression. As you let go, you'll find your thoughts and actions aligning in harmony, leading to unexpected and innovative outcomes.
Embracing flow as a path to fulfillment means accepting the unpredictable nature of flow-focus work. It's about trusting the process and being open to where it leads you. This can be transformative, not just in artistic endeavors but in all areas of your life. When you approach tasks with an open, creative mindset, you enrich your experiences, turning routine activities into sources of joy and discovery.
Letting go into the flow is like opening a door to a world where work and play merge, and every task becomes an opportunity for personal growth and joy.
Embracing Flow as a Lifestyle
As you exit flow state, you'll feel a sense of euphoria, balance, and yes, that you achieved things in a focused, seamless, tuned-in manner. This sense of time-energy-perception, the sense of time returning after having been suspended, is a key to feeling greater mental and energetic health in your daily life. You will feel how calm and powerful it feels to have engaged with the forces of the universe in flow across large-arc time, rather than being pulled this way and that by your email inbox or everyone else's demands on your attention.
Embracing flow isn't just about enhancing productivity or that which you create with your life-time-energy. It's about adopting a lifestyle that transforms your everyday experience. When you make flow a regular part of your life, you're choosing a path of power and harmony. It's about seeing your daily tasks not as burdens, but as opportunities to engage deeply and meaningfully with the world around you. This shift in perspective doesn't just improve your work; it enhances every aspect of your life, infusing each day with a sense of purpose and joy.
The long-term benefits of living in flow are profound. You'll find yourself more resilient in the face of stress, more agile in your thinking, and more satisfied with your accomplishments. Life becomes less about getting things done and more about the experience of doing them. By embracing flow as a lifestyle, you're not just doing tasks; you're crafting a life rich with engagement and satisfaction, one deeply fulfilling moment at a time.
Put Flow into Action in Your Life Today
Prioritize Uninterrupted Time: Start by carving out specific long periods of time in your day dedicated solely to focused work. During these periods, eliminate distractions and allow yourself to fully immerse in the task at hand. Hint: An "hour" is NOT a long period of time. Three hours should be minimum. Two can do in a pinch. There's a serious mental need for spaciousness in task-time, so explore these directives and see how your personal flow works best.
Surrender To Your Tasks: Set the course, then let go and let the flow take you where it will. Follow the natural pathways of thought and inspiration as you immerse yourself into a dedicated exploration of whatever it is you're working on. Realize the beauty of feeling that time need not mean anything and that you can dedicate yourself entirely to the energy of the lines of inquiry and creation you're working on.
Reflect and Adjust: At the end of each day, take a moment to reflect on when you felt most in flow. Use these insights to adjust your activities and environment to better foster flow in the future.
How will you begin to embrace flow state as a practice today, as you #healworklife?
Be well,
Katherine
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