How To Hack Your Productivity Flow

“Control of consciousness determines the quality of life.” ― Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Have you ever been working on a complex topic and become so engrossed in it that the world around you disappears and you're completely focused? Your mind wasn't wandering; it was completely engaged on that task, to the point where you weren't even aware of yourself.

It's as though you're operating on autopilot. Nothing could possibly go wrong. Work comes easily and without friction. There was no effort involved.

Athletes refer to this state as "being in the zone." Artists are referred to as "the muse" . Psychologists call this - STATE OF FLOW.

Einstein once said, "When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute -- and it's longer than any hour. That's relativity"

Let's rephrase that: an hour appears like a minute when you're completely focused on a project. You're so engrossed in your work that you have no idea where the time goes. That is the flow of productivity. However, any assignment will take longer if you sit with a preoccupied mind.

Isn't it true that we've all been there? Certain undertakings draw us in, obscuring our surroundings and allowing us to concentrate solely on the task at hand. In such instances, all time is lost. In fact, being in a flow state can increase our productivity by 500%. That's a 500% increase! Yes, you read that correctly. So, how do you intentionally enter this state of flow and be ultra-productive? Let's look into that, but first, let's define productivity flow.?

When you're in a productive flow, your creativity soars, your attention sharpens, and you get more done. “In this state, we are so focused on the task at hand that all else falls away. Action and awareness merge. Our sense of self vanishes. Our sense of time distorts. And performance goes through the roof.”

Interestingly, productivity flow isn’t just a productive state but an enjoyable one too. Flow state is also a happy state. Plus, you’re internally motivated. The flow state gives you better control over how much you can accomplish during your day.

Understanding what happens in the brain while we are in – or about to enter – flow states is critical in our efforts to deconstruct, reverse engineer, and understand flow states.

Let's take a look at what happens in your brain while you're in flow and what that means for understanding the nature of this powerful altered state of awareness.

As a baseline, the “Big five” chemicals are all released in the brain, at the same time, during a flow state. Norepinephrine, dopamine, serotonin, anandamide, and endorphins.

All five of them are performance-enhancing, feel-good neurochemicals that help you get faster, stronger, and more agile – both physically and cognitively – while also making you feel great.

The first is Dopamine – Dopamine, sometimes known as the "happy," "feel good," or "reward" molecule, lies at the heart of most positive emotions and is released when we enjoy something enjoyable.

As humans we are hardwired to explore and seek out novel experiences and environments, and dopamine is largely responsible for this hardwiring. Notice how a new experience or visiting somewhere you’ve never seen before makes you feel great? Yep, that’s dopamine in action.

Dopamine improves attention, ability to process information, and pattern recognition as a performance booster. It increases heart rate, blood pressure, and muscle firing timing (remember how novel settings were an external flow trigger? This is the reason). So dopamine works on two levels: emotionally and physiologically. It tightens focus while also making us feel great.

The next neurotransmitter is norepinephrine, which functions similarly to dopamine in the sense of flow.?It increases heart rate, muscle tension, and breathing in the body, all of which contribute to improved performance. It also allows glucose to enter the bloodstream, giving us additional energy. Norepinephrine boosts alertness, attention, neural network efficiency, and emotional control in the brain. In terms of flow states, what does this imply? Norepinephrine keeps us focused on the task at hand, blocking off distractions.

?"If cocaine is the drug analogue of dopamine, norepinephrine is the drug analogue of speed, therefore this enhancement comes with a hell of a high." Steven Kotler, Ph.D.

People in flow states frequently describe having a "heightened sense of awareness," meaning they can see, feel, smell, and process more of their surroundings with less conscious effort.

What is the cause of this?

Dopamine and norepinephrine are two neurotransmitters. The two operate together to help you focus while also flooding your body with pleasurable sensations that reward you for your improved attention and concentration.

The third musketeer in the flow friends combination? Endorphins! What are endorphins and what do they do? Simply put, they are endogenous (meaning they are produced by your body) pain relievers and pleasure creators. They lower the intensity of pain or discomfort by mediating the effects of stress and pain in the body.

It's similar to natural heroin in that the tension in your body dissipates and you experience extreme pleasure. To put things in perspective, the most typically generated endorphin is 100 times stronger than morphine.?

Remember how effortless flow is? Endorphins, which affect the way your body reacts to pain, are one of the main reasons for this. It's why players can play through significant injuries without noticing them at all.

Then there's Anandamide, which is my personal favorite in the flow cocktail. If you've ever gotten high from marijuana, you've experienced Anandamide's wonderful effects. The name "anandamide" is derived from the Sanskrit word "ananda," which means "bliss." It's a neurotransmitter that works with the brain's cannabinoid system. It has very comparable physiological pathways to Marijuana, which is why it has such similar effects.

This chemical increases lateral thinking, improves mood, lowers pain, dilates blood vessels and bronchial tubes (assisting respiration), and elevates mood (our ability to link disconnected ideas together). Most significantly, it reduces fear, allowing us to take risks and try things we wouldn't ordinarily try. Again, we have a hormone that makes us feel good, decreases pain, activates regions of the body that boost athletic performance, encourages us to be more creative, and dispels fear, allowing us to feel at ease (or even delighted) about taking risks.

Finally, there's Serotonin, our sixth companion. While it is not directly involved in the experience of flow, it is thought to appear at the tail end of flow and is what gives us the sensation of peace and calm after we have had a flow state . Serotonin is significant since it is a mood-regulating molecule. Depression is connected to low serotonin levels, for example. The serotonin pathway of the brain is hijacked by most antidepressant medicines (SSRIs).

So, to summarize, being in a flow state is like taking cocaine, speed, heroine, marijuana, and antidepressants all at once!!!?

Norepinephrine enhances focus (data acquisition); dopamine promotes pattern recognition (data processing); anandamide accelerates lateral thinking (enlarges the database searched by the pattern recognition system); and endorphins aid to manage stress levels and keep you relaxed along the way. On top of that, they all feel fantastic.

This is what it feels like to be in a flow state:

1.Complete focus on the task

2.Clarity of goals and reward in mind and immediate feedback;

3.Transformation of time (speeding up/slowing down)

4.The experience is intrinsically rewarding

5.Effortlessness and ease

6.There is a balance between challenge and skills

7.Actions and awareness are merged, losing self-conscious rumination

8.There is a feeling of control over the task.

?

Finally, productivity flow allows you to do more. If you're a student, for example, you can cover more of your curriculum. If you're a professional, you could be able to finish more assignments in less time.

Here are ways to help you get into the flow state.

?1. Choose a task and prepare for it.

You should know a few things before choosing a work to perform in your flow state, just as you should know the fruits you need before making a cocktail.

2. Make use of the goldilocks rule.

The Goldilocks Rule states that humans experience peak motivation when working on tasks that are right on the edge of their current abilities. Not too hard. Not too easy. but Just right to improve motivation and happiness.

If you play cricket against a 5-year old, you soon become bored. Play against sachin Tendulkar and you’ll also lose interest just as quickly. You need an opponent that is around the same level as you.

Work might get uninteresting if there isn't enough challenge, and your mind will wander. An extreme difficulty, on the other hand, can deplete available motivation and make things frustrating. In fact, research shows that our skills should be used in a ratio of 1:4 to help meet the midpoint between boredom and worry.

To reach your productivity flow sweet spot, you'll need to achieve a balance of expertise and difficulty. But what if the task at hand is far too difficult, but you have no choice but to complete it? To make it more manageable and less intimidating, break it down into bite-sized chunks. Simply put, find a task that requires instant attention and is difficult enough to keep your mind active.

3: Develop a routine for the flow state.

A flow stage ritual is a set of procedures you go through to get your brain ready to enter the flow state. Everyone has a different way of getting into the zone. It only takes five minutes for some people. Others may have to wait longer.

4: Fine-tune your focus by chopping distractions

Laser-sharp focus is one of the crucial triggers of productivity flow, which is why you need to work on honing it. Studies indicate that it takes between 5 to 20 minutes before you’re completely focused. You’re more likely to sustain your focus and dip into the flow state if you remove distractions for 20 minutes straight. This is why the pomodoro technique is a champion at helping you master focus for entering flow.

?

5: Get rid of both internal and external distractions.

Internal distractions include stress or emotional onslaught. Start with acknowledging the disturbance, this is half of the problem resolved already. Next, rectify the issue. For instance, journal your accomplishments to help combat feelings of imposter syndrome.

Research concludes that the way to reach flow state is by flushing out all external distractions. So snooze notifications, put your phone on airplane mode or mute it at the least, and block tempting sites such as social media networks.

6: Determine your productivity/creativity hours

Certain hours in a day tend to be productive. For instance, you could be a morning lark or someone who is at his best in the afternoon. Figure this out before you jump into the flow state so that you are at your most productive. The author of A Life Of Productivity, Chris Bailey details how to determine your most productive hours. He recommends starting with tracking your energy, focus, and motivation for three weeks. Log this data in a spreadsheet at the same time daily, so it isn’t biased.

In a culture that is overwhelmingly distracted, flow state can give you a significant competitive advantage. While other people are struggling to gain momentum on important tasks and projects, you’ll be getting the most important things done every day.

Novelist Neal Stephenson, who writes spectacularly long books, helpfully puts it this way:?

The productivity equation is a nonlinear one…This accounts for why I am a bad correspondent and rarely accept speaking engagements. If I organize my life in such a way that I get lots of long, consecutive, uninterrupted time chunks [aka flow state], I can write novels. But as those chunks get separated and fragmented, my productivity as a novelist drops spectacularly.

Is it challenging to enter a flow state? At times. Does it require discipline and a commitment to stick with it? Certainly. But the rewards for regularly achieving flow state are staggering.

It’s how the greatest musicians achieve mastery. It’s how novelists are able to write 300,000 words. And it’s how you can significantly increase your overall productivity.