Getting into the flow is great. Suddenly, everything seems to be working out, and there is time for everything you need to get done in life! But how do you get into the flow? More importantly – how do you stay there? Keep reading to find out!
1. Add New Challenges Regularly
Although it may seem counterproductive, adding new challenges to an activity can help you achieve and maintain flow. Flow is all about ensuring your attention is where it needs to be, and if you include enough of a challenge here and there, this will keep you from getting bored and ensure the task holds your attention.
For example, if you are a dancer, try a hard move now and then. If you don’t get it, let it go for now (don’t stress yourself over it) but keep circling back to it weekly until you master it!
2. Eliminate Interruptions Beforehand
A major aspect of flow is getting things done and staying in this zone to stay productive. It is impossible to stay in the flow when there are many interruptions. For example, don’t even take your phone with you when you know you need flow. At least turn notifications off on your phone when you need to be focused. Controlling distractions will ensure that you will find flow more quickly and stay in it once you are there.
3. Know Your Goals
While working on a project or task, you may experience setbacks along the way. To overcome these setbacks quickly (and maintain flow), it’s important to keep the final result in mind and let the small challenges go.
Say you are cooking a healthy dish that will be your lunch for the entire week. This way, you can eat healthily and stick to your diet. Maybe halfway through cooking, you realize you are missing an ingredient. This could be frustrating and lead you to grab your keys and head to the store—but this could cause a delay and break your flow.
Instead, you should think of the final goal, eating healthy food, and think about leaving out that ingredient or trying to replace it with something you have on hand. This way, you will be in the flow!
Overall, getting into the flow isn’t always easy, especially if your life is filled with distractions and long boring tasks. If you use the above three ways to approach the things you need to do, you’ll find that you are much more easily able to find and maintain your flow, therefore increasing your productivity.