3. Think of flow states as energy you put out.

When you put out energy into the world you get it back.

I try to put energy into the world through writing. I often get emails from readers that are loaded with energy. You can feel the energy as you read their words. Recently, I realized the energy I was feeling in these emails was actually the original energy I’d put out into the world, except it was larger and a different form of energy.

A flow state enables you to do your work and this work puts energy into the world. Energy moves people to take action. Energy causes life to move forward. Energy from one person, sparks energy in another.

109 reads

MORE IDEAS ON THIS

The Breathtakingly Simple Way to Beat Procrastination

There is hope for us procrastinators. You don’t need to keep giving your time away to the procrastination gods. This technique applies to any form of work.

One Saturday I found the answer. The clock hit 8 AM. I told myself I was going to type out the outline of a draft story I would most li...

249 reads

Getting into a flow state is the secret to unlocking the best work of your life. Everybody knows that by now.

I’ve used flow states to write consistently for the past 7 years. Without this higher state of consciousness, I’d be stuck back in 2014 trying to get over my fear of what other peop...

1.12K reads

By having zero expectations, I beat procrastination. Thinking about starting work creates resistance. What you’re really doing is preparing yourself to meet a standard, not start work. When your quality standards for your work are too high, you take longer to start work.

Low-quality work is...

266 reads

2. Turn into a dog and give yourself a treat.

Dogs love treats. So do humans. Give yourself a treat for finishing your work. Know what it is beforehand. Commit to it. Then tell yourself you can’t have the reward until the work is done. Visualize the reward while you work.

181 reads

Getting into a flow state is all in your head. All you have to do is pretend you’re not starting work. Tell yourself you’re just messing around. Create a piece of art you expect to throw in the trash. Enjoy how low-quality the first hour of your work is going to be. Tell yourself, low-quality to ...

100 reads

1. Add an event at the end of your work.

When my girlfriend books a social event at the end of a writing session it drives me nuts. I’m literally cursing in my head. Then I realized she’s actually doing me a flow state favor.

An event at the end of your work helps you rethink how much time you have. When time is scarce there is no...

153 reads

Use These Flow State Accelerators to Level Up

Once you’ve solved your procrastination problem, you can then accelerate your flow state and increase its power.

220 reads

People think I’m a self-improvement junkie who has mastered flow . That’s a lie. I am terrible at getting into a flow state. Over the last few months, it has taken me mor...

228 reads

4. Watch a person be possessed by a flow state.

Flow states can make a person look possessed. If you want a brilliant example of this, then watch musician Conor Maynard sing this song . 41 million people watched Conor in flow and many of the comments describe him looki...

114 reads

This one sentence reinforced what I now understand. You rarely do your best work at the start. Like a runner, you have to warm-up your mind on low-quality work before the real gems start to flow out of you.

Beat procrastination by starting with terribly low-quality work.

116 reads

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