What techniques can you use to develop flow and engagement in your work?

By employing techniques such as goal-setting to provide clear direction, breaking tasks into manageable steps, promoting mindfulness for heightened focus, encouraging autonomy and skill development, and ensuring a balance between challenge and skill level to maintain optimal motivation and immersion in the work.

Identifying and leveraging strengths makes us more equipped to fulfill our goals and responsibilities, rather than attempting to fix our weaknesses to accomplish them. Using our strengths gives us fluidity and efficiency and the task on hand is within our control. We can work around our limitations through our strengths. For instance, if we are methodical and organized but have less attention to detail, we can plan how to make no errors when completing documents. So here we are redefining the weakness of detail orientation by using a methodical approach.

To craft a work environment that fosters flow and engagement, start by setting clear, achievable goals and breaking tasks into manageable steps. Eliminate distractions, incorporate variety into your work, and maintain an optimal challenge level. Seek feedback regularly, tap into intrinsic motivation, and prioritize continuous learning. Cultivate a conducive workspace, practice mindfulness, and embrace flexibility in your schedule. Celebrate progress, foster collaboration, and prioritize tasks to stay focused. Remember, finding the flow is about balancing challenge and skill while staying attuned to your intrinsic motivators.

Incorporate short-form video or live-streaming of your creative processes within your industry. This can provide real-time engagement for your audience and a new medium for storytelling relevant to your work. It also gives a candid look into your techniques, making your work more approachable and engaging. Explore LinkedIn video, Instagram Reels, YouTube Live as well as TikTok.

Another way I help people identify their strengths is to consider what gives them natural energy at work. Ideally, working within your strengths will feel energizing, and that energy will drive results. You might also consider what things you're naturally good at...and people will compensate you for those skills. These places are where you start to gain clarity around your strengths. In addition to online assessments (I love CareerFitter), I would also keep a work journal for a few weeks to notice when and where this work pops up!

Setting goals is basic, but ask yourself if they are truly challenging? Beyond the basics, the key is setting goals that stretch us. Safe, easily achievable targets won't cut it for real growth. Goals should be more than mere checkboxes; they're catalysts for enhancing skills, performance, and productivity. Clear, challenging goals also unify the team. They foster a shared purpose, crucial for workplace flow. Such goals drive engagement, as team members collaborate, leveraging diverse skills to meet ambitious targets. This collective effort is what ignites true flow and engagement at work.

First, January 1st is just a date on the calendar. Second, thinking about your goals is not enough. You need to gift yourself with time (60 to 90 minutes is a good duration) and think about what you want to accomplish next year (whatever the year is). Once you have 3-5 goals, write them down. And then, write them down EVERY DAY in your journal. This keeps them in the forefront of your mind. It helps you work on those activities that will help you most likely achieve them.

Para alcanzar el éxito, las metas deben ir seguidas de un programa de acompa?amiento e identificación, donde cada individuo en la organización conozca cómo puede aportar para el logro de los objetivos corporativos, departamentales e individuales en su gestión diaria. Es clave ofrecer acceso a los recursos clave, al entrenamiento adecuado y fijar puntos de control previo, conocidos de antemano, para poder apoyar en el desempe?o de las labores y mantener el objetivo enfocado, claro y alcanzable, en el diario devenir de las labores.

While all other points mentioned are important but maintaining the energy levels and staying focused is vital to achieve the desired goals. 5 Steps to perform & achieve consistently - Pause & Reflect - Rest & Rejuvenate - Assess & Progress - Resource Alignment - Do SWOT periodically

The state of flow is driven by deep engagement. The level of attention you an eevote tonthe task and the constant energy level to sustain that involvement is key to achieving and staying in flow longer. Create the right environment around you, that diminishes distraction (which will pull you out of flow, or prevent you from reaching flow initially), this is vital. You will find that energy flows with your attention when you allow yourself to immerse your thoughts and mind fully.

Mastering focus is key. Interval focus, with strategic pauses, enhances productivity. Embrace distractions purposefully with the 10-minute rule—address them after dedicated work time. Momentum isn’t just a day; it’s a prolonged journey. Meticulously schedule your day, creating a rhythm that sustains focus and creativity. It’s a harmonious symphony of tasks, interruptions, and intentional breaks—orchestrated for optimal productivity.

Energy management is an underrated aspect of increasing productivity & feeling engaged at work. When we are constantly at work, not taking out time to disconnect & recharge mentally and emotionally; it leads to feelings of lethargy, fatigue, lower concentration, frustration, reduced output and puts an individual at a greater risk of burnout. Therefore, it's important to take regular breaks where you not just create a physical distance but a mental distance between you and your work. Engage more in activities that create feelings of relaxation, fun, laughter. It allows the mind to recharge and come back with a renewed sense of energy.

I once interviewed a professor who studies human motivation and one of the places where people fail the most is called "the long middle." The long middle is the part of the goal that gets drawn out and you start to lose focus. I highly recommend people prepare for the long middle of any goal they are trying to achieve and put together a list of things they will do when they feel stuck. For a daily task, it might be a walk. For a larger goal, it might mean creating micro wins with time to celebrate. For the extra large projects—like when I was writing a book—it meant printing off chapters so I could physically see my success.

It is often said that the best professionals are characterized by finding value and purpose in their work, the key is to be aware of why you do what you do, how you do it and what you do it for. If you connect your personal vision, your mission and your personal values with the purpose of your work and all that it brings you to achieve it, you will feel engaged.

When you are seeking feedback, be sure the person you are asking for feedback from is someone you trust to give you honest feedback. You don't want "good job" feedback, which won't help you. A good question to ask when seeking feedback is, "How can I improve?" or "What did I miss?" And then ask them to go deep, to elaborate on what they said. The point of getting feedback is to help you improve.

Absolutely, I resonate with that perspective. While finding meaning and value in our work is incredibly rewarding, there are times when tasks might not be inherently enjoyable or purposeful. That’s where discipline becomes the driving force. The ability to push through challenges, beat distractions, and stick to a well-structured schedule becomes paramount during these less glamorous moments. It’s a balancing act between finding joy in meaningful work and relying on discipline to navigate the less inspiring aspects of our tasks. This disciplined approach ensures consistent progress and success, even when the work feels less enjoyable.

One of the key elements of engagement is to know why you are doing what you are doing. What goals are you accomplishing, how does your work contributes to the overall purpose? "It's a luxury to pursue what makes you happy, it's a moral obligation to pursue what you find meaningful."

Celebration is important. Work is full of anxiety and overthinking. By giving yourself the time to reflect on your work well done you build your confidence which will in turn help you become more efficient and comfortable in your role. You have to appreciate yourself in all your hard work and dedication-- its something you deserve and being able to give that to yourself is a tough skill to learn. Being more internally motivated makes any environment easier because you'll have less you need to depend on.

At the bottom of any celebration and appreciation is feeling good and happy. Starting the day with being thankful for one thing and feeling happy about what it means to us elevates our spirits. Then as the day goes along, the positive energy ropes in many good things - whether it is a follow up that gets results, a lead that we land, kind words we hear, or just caring for someone close to us. All little big things are worth a bright smile and a heartfelt thank you.

Celebrating isn’t just about acknowledgment; it’s a crucial break to recharge. Taking the time to celebrate isn’t just a reward; it’s a strategic pause for renewed energy and sustained motivation. It’s a vital investment in both acknowledging success and ensuring lasting well-being.

Part of my journaling routine is writing as many "wins" as I have daily. I write down both the small wins and the big wins. Spoiler alert: you'll have way more small wins than large ones. And when you journal your wins, write legibly. I save all of my journals and go back to read them later. You're doing far better than you give yourself credit for. Journaling your wins will help you see that.

PLAY! Adding playfulness (defined as the ability to reframe any situation to be entertaining, stimulating, or interesting) to your daily routines will directly support every one of these suggestions. Play and playfulness will not only support your own engagement in your work - it has been shown to be the absolute best way to sustainably move through the flow cycle!

Flow and engagement is amplified when we recognise that it’s not so much a cerebral/head skill but a body/somatic based one. Having an awareness of how your body is feeling, responding, reacting, contracting or detaching is key to making a more informed decision to honour it and take a fresh approach by way of breath, movement, touch and sound. It’s not so much about what tool you access but accessing the tool that is most effective for you in the given moment given how you’re feeling and what state you want to be in instead. My absolute favourite tool I endorse to get back into flow and engagement is DANCE. It takes 4 minutes to shift your energy from checked out to checked in.