Find Your Flow: A State of Productive Wellbeing
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Finding Your Flow
A common struggle in our work is finding the capacity to feel a state of flow. This affects productivity which can also lead to procrastination. Understanding flow state can help.
There are two situations which call for flow:
You find yourself feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or over stretched
OR
You find yourself underwhelmed, stuck, or bored
Flow happens when we:
~ are interested in achieving the goal, feel a sense of control, or find involvement in the task.
~ have the necessary support or resources to achieve it
~ feel confident that our skills can meet the challenge
States of flow vary depending on your current skill level and challenge level of the activity. Your flow state will fall somewhere in this chart depending on that. Can you think of an activity or task that would fall into the different areas of the flow chart?
Photo Credit: Coach Training EDU
Finding Flow in the Moment
When the task isn’t syncing with your skill or challenge level, coach yourself into your flow:
Do I have a choice in how I demonstrate my work?
Can I make it more creative for myself?
Can I make it more meaningful for myself?
How can I make it less stressful?
How can I make it less tedious and more simplified?
How can I make this more rewarding?
Finding Flow in Your Day
Work in the right environment either away from distractions or toward a motivating space.
Understand your rhythms and peak performance times. When do you feel physically and mentally at your best in the day?
Find the right music to activate the mood for flow. Binaural or lofi beats are great for this. Or create a playlist with just the right mood to make you feel involved in the task.
Remove external distractions. They are an enemy to flow. Many of the addictive distractions offer so much stimulation, instant gratification, and dopamine, that it makes it even harder to take care of our responsibilities and tasks to complete. If you make them hard to access, you can resist them. Use website blockers like Freedom or Pause.
Clear internal distractions. Journaling, “thought-dumping”, and meditation will free up mental clutter.
Finding Flow in Your Life
Exercise both your body and your mind. Find a form of exercise and mental stimulation that you enjoy.
Spend 1 hour a week in a “Flow Hour” where you do something that you enjoy but also challenges you.
Create routines and rituals in your day. Rituals have more intention behind them than the action-oriented routines.
Try taking a different approach when tackling a new challenge.
Raise the bar for yourself once in a while– believe you can do better. Self-belief has a big impact on our mindset and actions.
Take on a challenge and trust that you will succeed. Persist by trying it a different way. Successfully tackling a problem builds your confidence.
Do something outside of your comfort zone, big or small, every day.
Flow All the Time
Bring out your inner coach:
“What kinds of things do you say to yourself when approaching a challenge?” Reframe any of the negative self-talk.
“What version of yourself is best able to focus?” Tap into those traits.
Action Steps: Choose 2 strategies from this list and follow through on it today.
Keeping yourself in flow is one key to productive wellbeing. If you want support applying this skill, schedule a connection call to work with me!
Works Cited:
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly, director. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Flow, the Secret to Happiness | TED Talk, https://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_flow_the_secret_to_happiness.
“What Is a Flow State and What Are Its Benefits?” Headspace, https://www.headspace.com/articles/flow-state.
Williams, John Andrew. Wellness Life Coach Training Guide: 1.0 Coach Training EDU 2020.
