"...the concentration is like breathing—you never think of it. The roof could fall in and, if it misses you, you would be unaware of it."

Meta-awareness: Becoming aware of what we’re thinking right at the moment. This is one of the best practices for managing our attention. So for this practice we can set a timer in every 10 minutes, when the timer stops just notice what I'm thinking at that moment - is it about the work what I'm doing - if yes, then just carry on your work, but if NO - then just write the thought down in a notepad and gently take your mind to the desired work.

FREEDOM from Thoughts

Scientist say this state 'The source code of Intrinsic Motivation' because it is the only state of mind when all the five pleasure chemical (Dopamine, Norepinephrine, Anandamide, Serotonin and Oxytocin) release at the same time.Our prefrontal cortex beings to shut down, as a result of that the voice in our head that always doubts our thinking and distract us, goes away.

What Happens in Brain

As Steven Kotler describes the 'The FLOW State' as to where we feel our best and perform our best. Where we feel Selflessness, Timelessness, Effortlessness, and Richness (of information). It is the only time when our brain releases all five pleasure chemicals at once and we forget about everything and become one with the work.Flow state increases our productivity by 500% and creativity by 400%.

FLOW State

Define the goal very clearly. We can write it down in paper with clear end point or finish line i.e. there should be a clear indication of completion of the work just like submitting a project or publishing this post.After creating a clear goal, we need a clear feedback. For that you can track your progress in any app or you can check the box of "Writing 2 blog post for this week" (it's for me) or something like that. We just need to see our progress that will keep us going for the next step.

Clear Goal & Feedback

In the state of flow, we feel STER — Selflessness, Timelessness, Effortlessness, and Richness.<ul><li>Selflessness: Our inner voice shuts down and we become one with the work.</li><li>Timelessness: The sense of time distorted, sometimes 5 minutes feel like 5 hours and vice versa.</li><li>Effortlessness: Every work is done effortlessly.</li><li>Richness: We can collect information and process them with ease.</li></ul>

Feeling in FLOW State

"You are so involved what you are doing [that] you aren't thinking of yourself as separate from the immediate activity... You don't see yourself as separate from what you you are doing."

If the challenge and skill required for the work both are low then it falls in apathy. Again if the challenge is high but our skill is low, then we feel anxiety.If the challenge of the work is low and our skill is high, we feel relax, If we can increase the challenge to 104% from our current skill level, we can get into flow. The challenge is just little bit high from our skill level, this type of work take us to flow state. To increase the challenge you can just shorten the time for that work.

FOCUS follows FLOW

Mind map will help you remember this BETTER.

Mind Map

In 'The FLOW State' we feel our best and perform our best. Where we feel Selflessness, Timelessness, Effortlessness, and Richness (of information).

Mind Map

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