In Flow

What is focus?
Let's take an example. Have you ever seen a hassled mom trying to
get her young daughter to leave whatever she is doing and do
something else?
It's a common enough sight: Young children can get
so wrapped up in whatever they're doing that it takes a lot of
persuasion to get them to switch their attention.
This ability to focus totally on one thing comes naturally to
young children, but it's one of the biggest challenges that most
of the rest of us face. We struggle to concentrate and, because of
this, fail to get on with the work we're doing.
Some people, though, seem able to focus intensely on what they're
doing, and perform exceptionally well as a result. Modern
psychologists refer to this state of absolute absorption or
concentration in what we are doing, as being "in flow."
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who first described
the concept, suggests that this state of being able to achieve
total focus applies to almost every field of activity. According
to Csikszentmihalyi, flow involves " being completely involved
in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies.
Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the
previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved,
and you're using your skills to the utmost ". So how do
we enter this "ecstatic" state?
Creating the Right Environment
Flow is easiest to achieve when:

You have enough pressure on you to stay engaged, but not so much
that it's harming your performance.
You believe that your skills are good enough to perform well.
You have distraction under control.
You are attending to the task in hand, rather than analyzing and
critiquing your performance.
You are relaxed and alert.
You are thinking positively, and have eliminated all negative
thoughts.

Some of these are hard to achieve in a busy office environment.
Your phone rings, your e-mail beeps to indicate that a new message
has arrived, and co-workers pop by to ask you questions. At the
same time you can't stop thinking about a whole range of personal
and work issues that are causing you stress, not least of which is
the sheer quantity of work which is piling up.

So if you're to have a good chance of getting into flow, you need
to sort out all of these distractions first. Here are some
practical things you can do:

Get comfortable, and eliminate distraction
from your environment. Rearrange your working environment
so that you eliminate as many distractions as possible. Change
the orientation of your desk, so that people passing don't distract
you. Use plants and screens to damp noise. Adjust furniture
so that it's comfortable. If untidiness distracts you, tidy
up. Make sure the temperature is comfortable, and that your
work area is well lit.

Keep interruptions at bay. Put up the "Do not disturb" sign, switch off your cell phone, close your email reader and web browser, and do anything that will block the most common things that distract you from work. You'll be surprised at how much you can get done in just
one hour of uninterrupted work, which may be the equivalent
of plodding on for several hours if you're handling interruptions
at the same time. For more on this, read our article on managing
interruptions .

Manage your stress. Identify the sources
of stress you experience with a Stress
Diary , and then work to reduce or eliminate the greatest
stressors. One of the most common sources of stress at work
is feeling that you have too much to do. See our section on time management to find out how to deal with this. And if you're
under so much pressure to perform that this is distracting you,
use relaxation
imagery to calm yourself down.

Keep a To-Do List or Action Program. Empty your mind of those distracting things you have to do by
writing them down in a to-do
list or action program. You'll be amazed how much this can
clear your mind! Do the same for worries – write them down and
schedule a time to deal with them. And don't try to multi-task:
Just concentrate on doing one thing well.

Think positively. It's very hard to
concentrate if you have negative thoughts swirling around your
mind. What's more, the negativity they cause undermines the
way we deal with work, with people and with issues, often making
things more difficult. So the final step in preparing to concentrate
is to stop thinking negatively and start thinking positively .


Successful athletes commonly use
relaxation and positive thinking techniques as they face the
challenge of competition. They deal with their feelings of
nervousness with relaxation techniques, and by reminding
themselves that they have the skills needed to succeed. And
when they are out there running, jumping, or throwing, they
concentrate on what they're doing, rather than on the
distractions around them.

Getting Into the Flow
With all of that in place, you can start to
practice your concentration skills. Try to focus on one task at
a time to the exclusion of others, as far as you can.
Before you know it, you will be in flow. You'll be so involved in
any activity you undertake that nothing else seems to matter. Not
only will your productivity increase, you'll find that your work
is more rewarding. Flow is productive, flow is fun, and flow is
essential for real success!

Key Points
When you achieve a state of flow, you're able to achieve more
because all of your thoughts and energy are focused on the task in
hand. To get into a state of flow, you need to eliminate
interruptions and distractions from your environment.
More than this, you need to empty your mind
of worries, anxieties, negative thinking, and all those little
"mental notes" that flit in and out of our consciousness.
This sounds hard, but in reality is quite easy if you take the
time to get into the right habits.

Apply This to Your Life

Look for ways in which you could improve
your work environment so that you can get into the flow
more efficiently and more often. If you work in an open-plan
office, consider using a meeting or rest area when you
need to concentrate. Alternatively, use headphones to
block out the noise when you're working at your terminal.

Be disciplined about shutting down
your web browser, and only checking your e-mail once you
have completed a task.

Follow our advice, set up an effective
time management system, and get on top of the stressful
thoughts buzzing around your mind. You'll be amazed by
how much better you can concentrate if you get everything
down on paper!

If you get stuck with a certain part
of your task, don't succumb to self-distraction and hurry
off to get a cup of coffee. Instead, remind yourself that
you have the skills to break through the problem, and
maintain your focus on finding a solution.