FLOW STATE
PG Geldenhuys
Founder, Investor & Coach fostering A-player capability through Growth Mindset. EO Member & Accelerator Scaling Up Trainer
“Flow?is?a?state?of?mind?in?which?a?person?becomes?fully?immersed?in?an?activity.?Positive?psychologist?Mihály?Csíkszentmihályi?describes?flow?as?a?state?of?complete?immersion?in?an?activity.?Being?immersed?can?be?defined?as?a?state?of?focus?in?which?a?person?is?completely?absorbed?and?engrossed?in?their?work.”
This?is?as?opposed?to?being?“in?the?zone”,?a?state?you?can?easily?see?in?tennis?or?golf.?In?the?zone?is?when?your?confidence?is?surging,?momentum?is?with?you?and?you?feel?like?you?can?do?no?wrong.
That’s?all?well?and?good?for?pro?sportsmen,?but?for?us?mere?mortals,?it’s?almost?as?hard?as?“being?in?flow”.
Cal?Newport?has?made?a?name?for?himself?by?reframing?this?as?“Deep Work.”?It’s?where?you?turn?off?the?phone?and?the?internet,?put?on?your?focus?tunes,?hole?yourself?up?in?a?private?corner?and?get?SHIT?DONE?without?distraction.
Easy?to?talk?about.?Hard?to?implement.
Toddlers,?Other?People’s?Priorities,?Last-minute?Crises,?and?just?a?plain?LACK?OF?TIME?are?all?ways?that?inhibit?a?state?of?flow.
I?wrote?about?Expectations?a?while?back.?Maybe?because?we?just?got?back?from?the?Otter?Trail,?maybe?because?I?feel?like?all?of?life?should?just?be?like?that…but?I?just?can’t?let?that?image?of?the?Bloukrans?river?with?the?ankle-deep?innocuous?low?level?crossing?out?of?my?mind.?Maybe?because?that?damn?river?has?been?such?a?pain?in?my?ass?on?previous?trips,?maybe?because?it?felt…well,?too?easy.?But?it?made?me?think.
My?friend?Marc?Malan?will?kill?me?for?this,?but?let?me?tell?you?the?story?of?my?sub?3?Argus?again.?The?Cape?Town?Cycle?tour?used?to?be?called?(and?still?is?by?many)?the?Cape?Argus.?The?109km?beast?of?a?cycle?around?the?Cape?Peninsula?is?arguably?one?of?the?world’s?most?beautiful?races,?and?every?year?20,000+?riders?give?it?a?go.
It took me 7 attempts to hit the holy grail, which was a sub 3 hour cycle time. Prior to 2008, I had winged it. But in 2007/2008, I decided to hit this thing. There are a few key things that you need to do to reach the goal:
I?have?this?clear?recollection?of?being?in?a?big?bunch?going?at?50km’s?plus?cruising?into?Hout?Bay,?and?being?very?very?comfortable.?I?was?chatting?away?to?the?guy?next?to?me,?and?looking?at?our?splits?we?were?agreed?that?we?were?en?route?for?the?target?time.?I?surprised?myself?at?how?good?I?felt.?But?here?it?is?folks:
That’s?it.?That?simple.?When?it?got?to?race?day,?it?was?actually?easy.?And?yes,?we?got?lucky?withthe?weather.
When?we?did?the?Bloukrans?crossing?this?year,?we?got?lucky?with?an?11?am?spring?low?tide.?The?group?was?all?relatively?fit?and?prepared.?Easy?times.
Everything was IN FLOW, just like that low tide river, because we had created the winning conditions for it. To have 5 am focus time before everyone wakes up, one probably needs to cultivate a habit of no TV or Scotch after 8 pm and turn off the light by 9. To get in flow in the office some kind of structural discipline is needed. Turn off the phone, put the earphones on, schedule the time in your diary, or maybe go offsite to a place where you can get there.
The?science?dictates?that?all?the?little?distractions?add?up,?and?result?in?us?getting?less?done.?Focused?effort?is?the?way?to?go,?but?for?most?of?us,?the?two?hours?of?“Flow?state”?requires?a?bigger?discipline?of?creating?that?space…and?that’s?where?the?real?work?is.
I?have?a?home?office,?but?I?don’t?really?achieve?flow?there.?So?I?pay?for?a?desk?at?a?co-working?space,?where?I?go?for?3-4?hours?most?days.?Because?that’s?where?I?can?turn?off?all?the?little?distractions,?and?get?things?done.?Oh,?and?put?on?the?Youtube?nature?piano?tunes?soundtrack.
What?is?your?approach?to?achieving?flow?state?