Information overload. Digital distraction. Endless to-do lists. These are the backdrops and soundtracks to our daily lives. It’s a wonder that any of us are able to produce our best work – especially if it requires intense concentration, a rush of creativity or perhaps even a trance-like rhythm.
This is the kind of work that needs what positive psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi defines as a “flow state” – a condition of energised focus where we feel and perform our best. Others refer to this state as “being in the zone”. Essentially, it involves getting lost in the job at hand.
Research from consultant McKinsey suggests people working at their peak are five times more productive than normal, whether they’re in the workplace, running their own business or steaming through personal to-do lists – so it’s hardly surprising a lot of research has gone into how to stimulate this state.
Study guides and motivational books will tell you that finding your flow starts with a positive, motivated mindset – and a firm deadline to get something done. Then, when you’re physically comfortable and psychologically prepared, the next practical step is to deal with distractions.
“In a pre-digital world, for the most part, you paid attention to what you chose to,” says Daniel Levitin, emeritus professor at McGill University in Montreal and author of The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload. “But now we receive a continuous barrage of pings, beeps, chimes and buzzers demanding that we at least acknowledge them, even if it’s only to decline.”
But every new message or alert is only eating away at your focus. “Each time, you have to make a decision: am I going to pay attention to it now or not?” says Levitin. “That decision-making process comes at a neurobiological cost: you use up glucose in the brain to make that decision. Having 20 of those in rapid succession may deplete your ability to focus.”
The most obvious first step is to set the digital world on silent. In Digital Minimalism, author Cal Newport, associate professor of computer science at Georgetown University, recommends simple measures: turn off notifications; have a “digital declutter”, where for 30 days you only use the technology essential for your business and personal life; and try not to feel you’re missing out if you’re not plugged in every minute.
Of course, technology can also help you to achieve a purer state of concentration – from noise-cancelling headphones to computer applications such as Freedom, which you can use to block distracting websites, games and apps. Even better, turn the physical (and mental) sign on your door to “Occupied” and let people know your devices are off for a period of time – something that used to be known as a productivity hour back in 1980s Silicon Valley.
Solitude can be a big help, but even then there’s another enemy: intruding thoughts from your own mind. Sheryl Sandberg carries a notebook and pen to jot them down and file them away – which she likens to carrying around a stone tablet and chisel when you’re Facebook’s chief operating officer.
If you want to make space for focus, it’s also a good idea to schedule time in the week for all of the bits of admin that would otherwise keep intruding. Prof Sir Cary Cooper, professor of organisational psychology at Alliance Manchester Business School, says having this window will stop that looming tax deadline, for example, playing on your mind. “Pick an hour at the end of each week, no matter what the bureaucracy is,” he says.
Sometimes, the secret to keeping your flow might actually be to stop, although the jury’s out on the precise way to do it. One study suggests working for 52 minutes then taking a time-out for 17 is optimum; and the Pomodoro technique suggests 25-minute periods followed by breaks.
King’s College London advises students with concentration problems to take care of themselves and plan in proper breaks. “Balancing competing priorities with multiple courses and responsibilities outside of university in an environment with many distractions and pressures can make it difficult to concentrate,” says Julia Haas, wellbeing coordinator at the students’ union, who helped organise some recent “time out” events to help 2,500 students recharge their batteries. “Students who attend our wellbeing events in particular comment that the positive space helps them feel more focused when they go back to studying and more positive overall.”
Sound levels and types may also have a role to play. Many people use music to get into the zone. Witness the rows of bobbing headphones in many an open-plan office. A Canadian study from 1994 suggested listening to a Mozart sonata temporarily improved children’s spatial reasoning – although this theory has since been challenged.
The debate about music’s role is informative, however, because some experts have concluded music is probably best used to jump-start your mood, before being turned off. As such, it highlights one key prerequisite to finding your flow: you generally need to be in the mood to do so.
Whatever your business, don’t keep knocking essential tasks to the bottom of your to-do list.
Tailor your business insurance with AXA. It couldn’t be simpler. That’s one less thing to worry about, and more time to spend getting on with business. Get a quote online today.
