My 5 ways to stay productive: The FLOW STATE
When you’re productive, time can pass by quick!
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Productivity was never my strong suit. I slacked a lot, procrastinated a bunch, pushed things off forever. I thought I had all the time in the world until I realized I didn’t. No, I didn’t suffer a near death experience and thankfully no one else my family experienced that either. I did suffer a career loss at 38 years-old, and I suppose you could say, I had a mid-life crisis. But oddly enough, I didn’t it. It was more of a shock and then a push to get things in order.
That’s when I started to learn about productivity; about being disciplined to stay on top of things, and to do things efficiently. So, here are are 5 tips that I learned through experimenting and seeing which worked for me. I hope these tips can help you be more productive, especially if you’re writing and want that draft done! Let’s get to it.
The 5-Productivity tips I learned:
The Pomodoro technique
The Flow State
Discipline is key
Ask WHY?
FEEL GOOD!
1. The Pomodoro technique
Honestly, I didn’t even know what a ‘pomodoro’ is. When I heard I thought it was some Pokemon character, but I later found out it was a technique invented by Francesco Cirillo in the 1980s. ‘Pomodoro’ in Italian means “Tomato.” So this is a Tomato Technique.
Anyway, the pomodoro tip really skyrocketed by productivity simple by focusing on a task for a set amount of time. For example, you would choose a task you want to complete within 45 minutes. You devote yourself and focus hard on doing that task for that allotted time. No distractions! You turn that phone off, you lock your door, put a ‘do not disturb’ sign, and you go straight into work. You set a timer down for 45 mins (or however long you want the focus session to be) and then once your time is up, go for a walk, take a breather, eat etc…
Many students on Twitch use this technique in multiple sessions; meaning they go almost all day of multiple pomodoro rounds. Some go for 12 hours straight (which is roughly ten to eleven, 45-min sessions)! So, a quick overview:
Choose a task (studying, writing, crafting, whatever).
Set a timer (I suggest do one session of 25 minutes and a 5 minute break. ‘25/5’ is how its denoted. And if you feel that 25 mins is too short, increase it and experiment how long you can focus for. I’m able to go 45 minutes then I need a 5 minute break)
Choose how long your break is, but not too long! (10-15 is usually the amount, but experiment with what works for you)
Don’t forget to eat and hydrate! (I sometimes forget this because of how focused I am)
The key to this technique is to give it your all and FOCUS! That’s why I suggest doing a 25 minute session, just to test and strengthen your focus muscles! You’ll soon find that 25 mins is too short and then you’ll want more! Speaking about focus, did you know each person has a particular type ‘bird’ within them that makes them more FOCUSED during a specific time of day? Yep, which leads to my next tip.
2. The Flow State
We all heard it before - the elusive Flow state, a momentary condition reserved only for athletes and geniuses. Wrong! Anyone can enter the Flow state, as long as you are deliberate, focused and wake up at a certain time. “Wait, did you say, ‘wake up at a certain time’”? I did. Here’s why. According to Flow state researcher Rian Doris (YouTube channel HERE), flow state can be entered easily, if you know your “bird type”
Yep, you read that right, your bird type. Or more simply your “Chronotype”. According to researcher and author Daniel Pink, people are one of 3 Chronotypes:
Larks - which are morning people. Those that get the job done at 6am. Think Jocko Willink, who gets up at 4am to do a workout. I’ll continue to sleep thanks.
Owls - more specifically nightowls. Those that stay up late and do their work at 12am. I’ll be sleeping then.
Third Birds - which is most people. We sleep around 10pm-12pm and get up around 6:30am-8am.
How do I determine what bird I am? It’s easy; determine the mid-point between when you sleep and get up. For example, if you go to bed at 12am and you usually get up at 6am, your mid-point is 3am therefore you’re a Lark. If your mid-point is 6am to Noon, then you’re an Owl. If your mid-point is around 3am to 6am, then your like most people and we’re Third birds. Okay, now what?
Well, each bird as a particular time of day, in which they can easily enter the flow state and be productive gods. Not to get too technical but here’s the gist of it:
If you’re a Lark then you want to do your most analytical tasks, even creative ones, in the morning.
If you’re a Owl, then you should do your analytical/creative tasks in the last evening, night hours.
And if you’re a Third bird, then your analytical/creative tasks should be done mid-morning, right after you get your first cup of coffee.
So, I’m a Third bird and I start my analytical/creative tasks using the pomodoro technique at 9:30am. I get up at 8am, do my meditations, eat and then around 9am get my coffee and 9:30, hop right into work. This has done wonders for me! I used to do my creative work after noon and I just couldn’t find enough energy by 4pm. Oddly, finding out about my chronotype, I was able to shift my work and get more energy to tackle my tasks. Give it a try!
3. Discipline is key
This part might be tricky for some. A lot of successful individuals talk about being disciplined, a mindset that gets you doing things even though you don’t want to do them. So where do you get this “discipline”? Well, for me it only took a philosophy and a book. Ryan Holiday is known for bringing the ancient philosophy of Stoicism back into the modern era and in one of his Stoic books, “Discipline is Destiny”, he discusses ways to cultivate ‘self-discipline.’ Just an FYI, you don’t get discipline - you don’t simple find it or it just happens to you. You have to want it and you have to push yourself to stay in that mindset. It’s something you embrace and hold true. You become disciplined by DOING and keep doing it, over and over again.
What does this mean in terms of productivity. It means staying consistent and focused on your work, no matter what’s going on. Being disciplined means getting out of bed and going to the gym, even if you don’t want to and it’s snowing outside. It means doing that creative writing, even if you don’t have creative juices flowing. It means getting up and showing up. It’ll take effort and it’ll take dedication, but once you commit, discipline becomes a habit and next thing you know, you won’t be thinking about the task - you’d already be doing it! Of course none of this discipline stuff wouldn’t work if you’re not doing it for the right reasons. What does that mean? It means you have to know the reason why you’re doing all this in the first place. Which means asking why.
4. But WHY?
Like with all endeavors, you ought to have a good reason why you’re on that particular path. Is it for money? Fame? Simply getting out of debt? For love? Whatever it is, you better make sure it means something to you. Oh and doing it for money, never ever goes well. DO it for something that’s special to you. For me, I’m writing a novel because I want to help people through my story, and accomplish another thing in my life. (My past two accomplishments I’m proud of were losing 80Ibs, going from 240 to my lowest 160Ibs).
So, ask yourself, why am I doing this? Or if you haven’t decided on the task or path, ask ‘what am I doing this for? Why?’ By asking the why, you reinforce the discipline to keep going on whatever you’re doing. The why is the meaning, the purpose to everything that you’re doing. In Ali Abdaal’s book, “Feel Good Productivity” asking the why gets rid of uncertainty:
So make sure you’re clear on the why because that clarity can help you push the the drudgery of one of the toughest emotional opponents out there: fear. Which leads us to the last point.
5. FEEL GOOD!
Reading Ali Abdaal’s book added another piece of arsenal to my productivity kit, and I use it mostly when I went the “valley of despair.” For those that are writers or seasoned authors, everyone knows that writing is a marathon, and it’s easy to get started but once you’re in the middle of it, it can get tough to keep going. Your creative juices seems to dry up, and no words come out onto the page (I avoid writer’s block because I don’t we are blocked but more that we’re afraid to push on or that we’ve pushed a little too hard. More on that in another blog).
Anyway, some authors call it “the marathon of the middle” and you have to endure that. I like to call it the “valley of despair” because sometimes that’s how it feels ahah. Ali Abdaal felt this way, when he worked as a doctor, when he did he blogs and even today, he suffers from the reaching shadows of doubt and procrastination. But what keeps him going, and what he attributes to his success, is being able to make productivity feel good. But how?
Using research-backed exercises, Ali has come up with many ways to achieve success. Not to get too give too much away of the book because I want you to go out and read it, but he packages his methods into three components known as energisers:
Play -
Ali suggests implementing things that are fun to your task. Why not listen to an hour-long background music of “Lord of the Rings” or your favorite EDM. Why not be adventurous, and do your work somewhere else? Head to a café or library! Ali asks you to question how you can make the task fun. As Ali states, “How can I approach this with a little less seriousness, and a little more sincerity?” (p.45)
Power -
Ali urges you to take CONTROL of your decisions, and your life. He attributes ‘Power’ to the sense of personal empowerment. It’s “believing” you can do, and deep down knowing you can achieve your goals. It’s being confident in yourself; look yourself in the mirror and say “you got this!”
People -
Ali urges to build connections with people. I know for some, like me, sometimes making friends can be tough, and can be scary. Start slow - go on Discord (an instant voice-messaging program, built around fostering communities). I’m on many Discord servers (communities) and I enjoy making friends on their. You can even join a “Study with me” server, where hundreds of individuals are in studying their material. You’ll find that you can get an “accountability buddy”, that can make sure you’re on track with your productivity goals.
Putting it all together
There are a plethora of productivity tips out there and it can be daunting to choose. I say try a few, see which you like and fits your life and stick with it. The key is consistency. I do hope you resonate with the techniques I mentioned and I wish you all the best on your journey! Stay the course and keep on sailing!
Check out the video below of Ali Abdaal on Lewis Howes’ podcast. Amazing and insightful show!