On the First Day of the New Year, I often think of writing something new or making a fresh start. Then I drop into a rabit hole of what and how. By the time I realize it, the day would have ended without me writing or doing anything. Then there are days when I am most productive and I end up doing everything I wanted to do. Those days are rare. The question is should I wait for those days to do my best quality work?

I am sure most of us have experienced this. There are days when we are super productive and days when we simply flit from one thing to the other. Before you start thinking that I am giving you one of those self-help-tips on how to make all your days super productive I want to make it clear that I also like those days when we aimlessly teeter around. I think that state in itself is a way of preparing our minds for the oncoming productive day.

Yet we would like to get things done when they have to be done. We don't want to be frozen on a day when a vital delivery is due. How can then we control our state of mind in such a way that we can call upon a secret force which awakens our mind to do the job at hand and finish it.
 
So I sat down to analyze this situation. Look at those days when I am super productive more carefully -- especially things like what are the likely triggers for the flow -- and realized that you have to get into a state of flow. There are three things that happen when you are in a flow:

  1. Some external force is holding your hand and walking you through the chores
  2. Your mind is focused on the quality of the output, you are more detailed and deliberate in your actions
  3. and most importantly, time stops and you are in a zone
A Hungarian Psychologist and researcher, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi says, "The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times . . . The best moments usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile". Mihaly wrote a whole book on this state of mind called Flow, considered a landmark book in this genre.

Redesigned Book Cover, Flow

How do one get into this state, the zone as some people call it or the Flow as Mihaly calls it? Mihaly gives us some hints to how this state can be achieved when he says: “Inducing flow is about the balance between the level of skill and the size of the challenge at hand”

However, this is only an observation and not an actionable advise on achieving this state. I wanted a formula, a set of actions which induces this state and I kept thinking about it. The cue actually came through my Yoga teacher, Sri Raghavendra Shenoy, who keeps saying, "Even if you don't feel like doing yoga today, stretch your limbs and tighten the joints so that the body secretes the necessary harmones which then will take over and help you complete your yoga routine."

The equivalent of stretching the limbs and tightening the joints in work -- be it writing or any other -- is to stretch our muscle memory by leafing through the file or typing an email or a few words in a wordprocessor. For some, it may be picking up the wrench and start checking if a bolt is tightened, and so on. In short, get started without analysing; without thinking whether it is bringing you happiness. Then like a Dominoe, one thing gives into another and that triggers another action until you lose yourself in the work.

Check this video on how Dominoe Effect works.


I am actually surprised how this piece of writing is shaping up. You won't believe that I started with something completely different and as I started writing, one idea triggered another and a completely new article started shaping up. My initial two short paragraphs morphed into this short treatise on getting into the Flow.
 
When it comes to writing what we do is we tend to focus on what to write and how to write. The message and the mechanics is what we mostly grapple with and lose ourselves in their quagmire. While we should actually be working on the why of your writing or work. Simon Sinek popularized the idea of starting with our why. I think this extends to every walk of life. Be it starting a new venture or writing a new blog post, starting with why helps one to quickly decide on the what and the how. Ofcourse, the amount of involvement is much greater in case of a new venture.



So this new year, I wanted to remind myself of how to get into the state of Flow and in the bargain tell all of you how you too can.

This is also an opportunity to start a conversation with you all to keep this world saner, build a better social structure and discover new things. I hope you are with me on this mission of creating a conversation for the global good.

Yours Sincerely
Prashanth Hebbar

Image by Darkmoon_Art from Pixabay