?? Get into the flow at work. Here’s how.

Did you know that developers view themselves as responsible for solving complex problems?

“It is through working on these tasks that they learn, provide value, and gain an understanding of large systems, enabling them to maintain and expand those systems,” writes Eirini Kalliamvakou, staff researcher at GitHub.

But building software is like building a house of cards, says Idan Gazit, senior director of research at GitHub. “Tiny distractions can knock it over in an instant.” ??

The key to solving complex problems and building great software? Get into the flow.?

When you’re in the flow, you block out the world, are fully immersed in what you’re doing, and enjoy increased creativity, innovation, and happiness.

“Being in the flow is magical,” says Jonathan Carter, technical advisor of the CEO at GitHub. “When you’re in the flow, there’s nothing else you’d rather be doing right now.”

And it’s not just a happiness boost—flow state increases productivity, according to the research.

Developers produce higher quality work when they can easily collaborate—a hallmark of flow state—through comments, pull requests, issues, etc. According to our recent study, developers report that effective collaboration provides a host of benefits:

• Improved test coverage
• Faster, cleaner, and more secure code writing
• Novel solutions
• Faster shipping??

So, how can you get into the flow next time you code? Here are 3?? tips:

1. Optimize your environment. That means, get comfortable (make sure you’ve had enough to eat ??), create a distraction-free work zone (schedule heads-down time on your public calendar ???), and step away from your work to clear your head (set alarms to take breaks ?).?
2. Map out your work. This means, plan out a clear path, or the tactics, for achieving your goal. ?? Try using AI as a rubber duck to talk through a mental block, and practice these tips for prompting an AI coding assistant to help solve your problem. Mapping your work also clarifies the required skills to complete a project. Too easy? You’ll become bored and unsatisfied. ?? Too challenging? You’ll become stressed and perhaps won’t get the project done. ?? Finding your optimal mix of challenge and skill is important to achieving flow. ??
3. Find joy in the work you’re doing. A necessary part of getting in the flow is enjoying yourself. But it’s not just on you to find joy. Managers can increase enjoyment by clearly articulating the end result of the projects they assign. ?? ??? Doing so shifts the team’s focus from the complexity of the problem to the desire to achieve those outcomes. Even if you’re not the biggest fan of a project, understanding “Why does this project matter?” can spur enough purpose and curiosity to get back in the flow state. ??

Researchers have known about the benefits of flow for a while.?

• In 1990, a psychologist known as the “father of flow” published his research on how people achieve productivity and happiness. His name was Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and he published the book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience.
• In this book, the Hungarian-American psychologist describes ? nine dimensions? that help people reach a state of flow, defined as the state in which people are so absorbed that their thoughts and actions flow and bring unrivaled motivation, meaning, and creativity.?
• Csikszentmihalyi found that entering a state of flow isn’t just about becoming more productive. Rather, it’s about increasing productivity as a means to create meaning. ?? Finding fulfillment as a software developer requires using your knowledge to help create.?
• That creative act can come in many forms, like complex technical problem solving, or sharing your knowledge with the next generation of global programmers, or even developing an open source guide for the social sector.?
• The three general tips we shared above and the more tactical ones we share here fall under these nine dimensions: challenge-skills balance, total concentration, and clear goals.

"Software has historically been viewed as mathematical or scientific in nature, but I would argue that writing code has more in common with other creative acts. Whether you’re writing an essay or writing a program, the challenge is getting into the headspace where you can untangle the thing you want to express." -Idan Gazit, senior director of research at GitHub

But getting into the flow isn’t just important for individual developers. Managers and leaders, we’re talking to you: flow state helps businesses, too. ??

• Developers who remain in the flow write more secure code. As security processes become integrated throughout the software development lifecycle, more developers interact with security tools. Integrating those security tools to reduce context switching helps developers to detect and remediate vulnerabilities earlier in the development pipeline.
• Developers in flow state help organizations solve bigger, more complex problems. Today’s environments also use dozens of languages and often leverage multiple cloud providers, creating pressure, complexity, and distractions, according to Chris Reddington, senior manager of developer advocacy at GitHub. “The more we can help engineering teams stay in the flow, where they are just focused on solving those bigger problems, the better,” he says.?

New quantitative research on developer productivity supports this second point:

Developers who carve out significant time for deep work enjoy a 50% productivity boost.

The full research was published in ACM Queue and a summarized version can be found on the GitHub Blog.

Brushing up on the latest in software development? Check out our reading list.

To learn how to create these focus environments for your engineering teams, take a page from the Carlsberg Group, a global brewer that’s headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. ???

• You might be wondering what you can learn from a brewer about software development. Though founded in 1847, Carlsberg has kept up with the times. It uses process automation to boost its product development, streamline its manufacturing capabilities, and extend distribution to 150 countries across the globe.
• To aid its digital transformation strategy, Carlsberg has done the following:-Centralized its development platform on GitHub.-Enabled advanced coding tools like GitHub Copilot.?-Strengthened its security posture with GitHub Advanced Security, which revealed around 600 unknown secrets within their source code stored in private repositories, symptomatic of their former convoluted tech stack.

Ultimately, these changes—simplifying CI/CD pipelines, minimizing the need for context switching, and automating security workflows—gave Carlsberg developers more energy to concentrate on coding and tackling complex problems instead of managing separate systems.

?? At the end of the day, whether you’re looking for tactical tips to complete your hefty to-do list or find more meaning and fulfillment at work, learning how to tap into your flow state could be the key. ???

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? This newsletter was written by Nicole Choi and produced by Gwen Davis. ?