Your brain assigns a particular task to a place. For example, bed is for sleeping or scrolling. Couch is for TV or gossips. Kitchen's for eating. It's really uncomfortable to interchange the task & the place. Therefore, decide a particular place for your task. Example, a desk for studying.

The Task & The Place

Think of yourself as an ape and give that ape the task you want to do.Example, how will you make an ape play minecraft1. Simplify Minecraft. Add swiping for movement instead of joystick. Add touches for breaking stuff.2. Give a mini tutorial: Break the task into very small chunks and give some dopamine after completing each task. Example:Learnt moving -> Peanuts -> Learnt Breaking -> Peanuts -> Learnt Hunting -> Peanuts3. Make that task the most rewarding. Don't let that ape discover tasks more fun.4. Do it in a specific place & time inside a room, not a forest.

The Ape Theory

You can't stop yourself from drinking when in a bar. When you are surrounded by comfort zones like bed & couch, do you expect yourself to do uncomfortable tasks? So is assigning a place to a task enough? Nope, you have to change the whole environment if the task is hard. Therefore, going to a library is a more suitable option than a desk.Another main aspect is that a silent, distraction free environment gives you the ability to focus which is very important for flow state

Environment

What's more inspiring than peer pressure? Doing a particular task with your peers helps build peer pressure. It also helps in completing a task easily if your peers are smarter than you.

Peers

To hear this summary in an audio format & access other deepstash pro features for free, go on <a href="https://stepwise.janakg.me/steps/?id=58">Stepwise</a>

Audiobook

Try to make any task more fun.If it's repetitive or SC Ratio is 1:1, do it with MUSIC.If it's not repetitive, listen to music right before doing it. Do it with your peers. Add Milestones. Example, eating a snack after each 2 hour study session

Make It More Fun

Procrastinating till 1 hour before the exam can still secure you an average grade and studying the whole year can also get you an average grade. Deadline pressure forces a flow state, we pace up, and focus really good at that time

Deadline

A state of consciousness where you can do any task effortlessly is the flow stateA scientist analyzing data whole night is in a flow state. A topper studying all day is in flow state. Flow State can be described as addiction to work.You lose the track of time, hunger and even the sense of identity when you are in such a state. It's just magic!

What Is Flow State?

1. DOPAMINE:You can do a task for as long as you want until you keep on recieving the dopamine. That's why people following their passion have a higher success rate. 2. Skills VS Challenge Ratio (SC Ratio):SC Ratio has to be 1:1. The skills required to complete a challenge shouldn't make that challenge too easy or too hard. Just the right balance!

How Someone Gets Into Such A State?

To overcome the resistance by brain, you can simplify the very pressurising hard task into smaller easier tasks/chunks/pieces.

Simplify The Task

Distraction free environment is important for focus. Habits like Meditation, less dopamine consumption, etc. also help in focusing.

Focus

How Can You Get Into Flow State?

I am addicted to coding. You type something and get a beautiful design. It gets you a lot of dopamine. So much that you don't care about the SC Ratio which is 1:1.5

Personal Experience

Assign a span of time to a task and do that task, daily, in that specific time span. Be consistent.

Discipline

Your mind will resist the task you are doing. It will resist by giving you tasks which give you more dopamine. But, when everything you do gives you nearly the same amount of dopamine, then your brain will resist less. Therefore, delete all your dopamine sources such as social media, TV, Netflix, etc. if you are on an important endeavour.

Resistance By Mind

I have been struggling to be a good student like I was before 2020. It's been an year since I am figuring out how to do that and this is what I learnt in my journey. The video mentioned provided me with a cue to write these ideas

Explore the defining features of being in a flow state, and get tips on how you can find flow in your daily life.

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Flow is more than just concentrating or paying attention; it's a unique mental state of effortless engagement. And those who more frequently experience flow report higher levels of positive emotions, creativity, and feelings of accomplishment. But what exactly is flow? And how can we find it in our daily lives? Explore steps you can take to increase your chances of finding flow.

Directed by Leah Putnam.

This video made possible in collaboration with Character Lab
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A special thanks to David Melnikoff who provided information and insights for the development of this video.

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