Ever felt that way before? Yeah, me too. But remember that one time you focused on something for so long that you forgot what time it was?
That's the Flow State 🚀
Every week I have one "project day" - a day dedicated to ideating and progressing on some pretty interesting initiatives. Some of those days I'm focused at my desk doing my thing, other days it's a couple of collaborative sessions - but during all those times I strive to enter the Flow State.
It's sometimes called "effortless effort.” Here’s how it works:
Work on things outside your comfort zone, something that challenges you and grows your skillset just enough - it’s a “sweet spot that lies just beyond our current abilities”. I find it helpful to break down larger projects into smaller actionable items to work on
Create a distraction-free environment. Set your phone on Focus mode.
May also be a good idea to put on some Vivaldi
Pretty much everything is a dynamic environment. In cases like this, here’s some things that have helped me focus better:
Break down large tasks into smaller, achievable goals. Make sure to track your progress throughout, rewarding yourself ever-so-often (a can of Monster seems to do the job)
My Notion Calendar & Task List from when I was oddly organized in college - large tasks have subtasks
Note: if you have too many tasks, create a “top three things to do today” sticky note - inspired by David Allen’s Getting Things Done
Create and share meeting goals / an agenda in advance, prioritizing them and keeping in mind any action items. Scheduling 15 mins before and after the meeting to prep and consolidate notes also helps wrap things up well.
Note: I’m a notorious note-taker (I guess this blog post counts as a note too?), so every meeting will almost always have notes