Flow

It’s late.

And I’m procrastinating.

(oh wonder)

It’s not that I don’t try to start working.

I just can’t.

I feel like I’m physically not able to.

I want to start typing
- but my fingers are tired

I want to think about the task
- but my brain feels so foggy

So what do I do?

The most logical option available:

I hop on my phone.

And binge YouTube shorts.

For hours.

Until I go to bed, tired and feeling like shit.

This version of me never managed to do homework.

I procrastinated so hard I started writing a 20-page paper a week before we had to send it in.

I didn’t even study for 2 & ½ of my final exams.

This was me in high school.

And there was a lot of stuff I did completely wrong.

• paying no attention to health

• distractions accessible everywhere

• doing work last thing in the day (if at all)

The metric to measure my attention span was milliseconds.

I wish I had just known about just one thing back then:

The rules of flow state.

What is Flow State?

Flow state = long periods of Hyperfocus

You know when I could concentrate?

During exams.

I entered Hyperfocus immediately because the stakes were high.

• no distractions

• no drifting thoughts

• just me and the paper

I used to get into flow writing exams.

Because the conditions were perfect.

In my room at home?

The conditions to get into flow were miserable.

They used to be.

Now I’m battling into flow right this moment.

I’m on the verge of getting in.

I love the feeling.

Here’s my process of getting into a flow state.

Flow Requirements

There are 3 major things you need to nail for flow.

If this flow thing still sounds crazy to you-

I’d challenge you to give it a try.

It’s so worth it.

Flow Blockers

What are flow blockers?

Things that hinder you from getting into a hyper-focused state.

There are 3 major ones:

1. People

Yep, other people can be annoying.

And they can destroy every chance of getting into a nice flow state.

Your job?

Speaking to them.

If you find yourself getting distracted by people-

Tell them.

Find a solution.

2. Technology

Who would have thought?

• notifications

• the presence of my phone

• YouTube, SM, and Corn only a tab away

No wonder I couldn’t get my head down.

Technology can include:

The phone calls.

The video games.

The WhatsApp messages.

The addictive algorithms of the platforms you’re on.

Get rid of all of it, at least for your work sessions.

3. Thoughts

My thoughts used to wander around a lot.

I let my mind drift because they’d go to happier places than the task at hand:

• my crush

• the food I wanted to have

• the video game I was speedrunning

You can’t focus on a task if your mind is everywhere.

The solution?

Meditate.

Bring your thoughts back to work in real-time.

You catch them drifting?

Bring them back.

You want to open another tab?

Bring your thoughts back to work.

It’s hard in the beginning- until you hit a flow state.

Flow Probability

Getting into flow isn’t a game of pure chance.

You can increase the likelihood of entering flow, by:

1. Doing it early

I wake up early.

And I do my most important work at the start.

Why?

The earlier you do work, the higher the chances of getting into flow.

It’s as simple as that:

• no distractions

• no (overly long) morning routine

• especially no fucking phone

Your mind is still “pure”

You didn’t have time to clutter it with useless stuff already.

Give it a try.

2. Rest Hard

What is flow state?

Extreme focus.

What is extreme focus?

Something we do, that uses a ton of energy and brain molecules.

• dopamine

• epinephrine

• acetylcholine

Don’t remember the names.

Just know that we need them.

A lot of them.

How do we get them?

• good rest

• great sleep

• a healthy lifestyle

Don’t neglect these.

A healthy lifestyle never hurt anyone.

Flow Triggers

Flow triggers get you into flow.

Think of your reaction to a notification.

Your phone makes a noise.

You grab it.

Trigger → Reaction

We want that to get into flow.

1. Have a flow routine

Whenever I get into flow, I make the preceding moments similar.

For example, I used to:

• drink one glass of water

• get myself a coffee

• do a form of breath work

• have bineural beats turned on

This cued my brain into thinking:

“It’s flow time babbyyyyy”

Which made it a lot easier to get into flow.

2. Set super clear goals

When I say clear, I mean clear.

You must know exactly what task you are performing before going into flow.

Plan this out even a day before.

Why?

So you don’t start thinking about how to do a task.

You just get right into doing it.

When I used to procrastinate on homework, I had no fucking clue what I actually had to do.

It was just a vague idea in my head.

An unpleasant one on top of that, smth like:

“I have to do maths, oh god, wait till when again? and how much is it going to be fuck, which topic are we doing anyway?”

Complete overload.

If I had taken 5 minutes the day before to look at the tasks, see what I was dealing with and made a plan-

I maybe would have started the homework.

3. Make it challenging, but not too hard

Somewhere between challenge and boredom lies flow.

The ideal number?

Make your tasks 4% more challenging than your current skill level allows it.

I’m not saying you can track that-

but try to neither over nor underestimate yourself.

Typing this newsletter?

Pretty easy for me now-

but not if I have time pressure on top of that.

I have a timer running down.

A time I need to complete this thing in.

= Challenging

But not too much

I think flow is one of the best experiences you can get into, literally every day.

And I challenge you to try it out tomorrow.

Immediately after waking up.

Not gonna lie though.

It’s hard doing it on your own.

Of the basis of one Newsletter.

So I decided..

In exactly one week I’ll be dropping a complete giveaway on flow state.

Everything you need to know about the topic to get into flow, regularly.

Hope you enjoyed this one.

See you soon

~ Henri