Getting Into a Flow State and Bringing Your A-Game

This Slogging thread by Abeer, Sara Pinto, Jack Boreham and Mónica Freitas occurred in slogging's official #random channel, and has been edited for readability.

AbeerJan 13, 2022, 4:14 PM

“Bringing your A game.” It goes by many names. Martial artists call it Mushin. Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi coined the term Flow to describe it. A state of hyperfocus where you perform at an amazing level. While everyone’s different, there’s a lot to learn from how each of us individually tap into this wellspring of focus.

So, how do you get in the zone?

Personally, I usually start with a short meditation lasting a few minutes to calm my mind. Then I set an objective or goal for the next hour. I set a Pomodoro timer for an hour so I’m committed to focusing on this one task. Then I find a simple instrumental song that plays on repeat for the entire hour. I’ve noticed that video game soundtrack music works really well for me. The repetition of the song sort of keeps a rhythm to which I can work to without taking my attention away from the task at hand. Somehow all this manages to get me into a nice flow fairly reliably.

Sara PintoJan 14, 2022, 2:45 PM

I'm still trying to find what works best for me. But for now, the first step of my method is to clean and organize the space where I am. Then, I arrange the work I have to do, by priority, so I can feel a little in control of what has to be done. I put some music - I've tried every type, but I don't have a specific one that always works, it has to depend on my mood. And then I just work. I like to challenge myself to finish the work in a certain amount of time and so on, so I never used a Pomodoro timer. I thought it had to always be 25min

AbeerJan 19, 2022, 5:45 PM

I can definitely understand needing a clean work environment. There were times I had to move rooms because my room was just too messy at the time. 😅 Arranging work by priority is definitely a smart move so you don’t trick yourself into procrastinating on the important tasks by focusing on the trivial tasks.

From my understanding, standard Pomodoro is 25 minutes of work and a 5 minute break. A lot of people including myself have issues with this ratio and tweak it to fit their needs. For me, it takes 15-20 minutes to really get into the flow of things so it seems silly to stop 25 minutes in. Usually between the 45 minute to an hour mark, I’m quite mentally fatigued so that’s when personally a break works best. That 5 minute break feels like nothing to me, however, so I usually like to take a full 20 minutes to do something else and feel refreshed before I go back for another round.

Are there any ways that seem to work for others but never work for you?

Sara PintoJan 20, 2022, 11:31 AM

I think having it all organized, from the room to the priorities just gives you a sense of control over the tasks, and it gives me motivation!
My thoughts exactly! It takes me some time to organize and feel like working, so 25 would never do. I sometimes end up using the method like you, in an extended way.

Ah yes! When it comes to music/silence. I'm still trying to figure out how people work with no sound at all, I think I would just have to talk to myself haha. Also, people that work while listening to instrumental only. That's one thing that I've tried and never seems to work, but some people swear by listening to classical music, it must be just me haha

Jack BorehamJan 14, 2022, 5:39 PM

For me its complete silence. Nothing around just me, my laptop and my ideas. 😂

AbeerJan 19, 2022, 5:49 PM

Silence makes perfect sense. I’m sure that’s one of the reasons people like to study/work at libraries.

Mónica FreitasJan 14, 2022, 7:54 PM

For me, it's a high-energy playlist, coffee and putting the heavy lifting between the times of the day I know I have more mental energy - from 10 am to 4 pm.

AbeerJan 19, 2022, 5:52 PM

I totally get the high-energy playlist. 😂

Synchronizing your heavy lifts with your energy patterns and Circadian rhythm is very clever. How did you figure out when you have the most mental energy? Did you track it somehow?

Mónica FreitasJan 19, 2022, 9:20 PM

I need speedy songs to trick myself into having energy ahahaha
To be honest, I only figured this out in the last couple of months, once I started working remotely. I noticed that I was super productive and creative right before and after lunch (coincidence or treat?). So I use that time to make those more mentally demanding and draining tasks.

I never actually tracked it consciously. It was just getting more aware of my mental patterns.

But I didn't know there was a name for it.

So, there you have it! How do you get into your A-Game state?