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When are you the most productive on a task? The first ten minutes or after ten minutes. I am (and with me many) are productive after around 15 minutes. You get in a certain flow, you are focussing really hard and nothing can distract you anymore. People can start shooting next to your head and you won’t hear it. This would I just call ‘the flow’, you get in the flow with a task. So when you are studying for a test, after fifteen minutes you are suddenly deeply focussed and really productive. But that is after fifteen minutes! Pretty long right? Couldn’t you speed up that process a little bit?
Requirements for the flow
Getting in the flow requires some environmental factors.
- Enough ideas. If you are writing a paper, you need to be able to keep writing. So if you have to find another subject to write about again and again, you won’t get in the flow. You are constantly interrupted by the need of inspiration. The same accounts for studying, you need to know what you are going to study today. Having all the books you need in this session of studying in front of you is also a necessity. You should be able to keep going on and on!
- No distractions. Obvious, but necessary. If you have distractions all the time, you will never get in the flow. So get distraction free. Shut down everything, make sure you can’t be called or talked to. Have some sort of sign with ‘Do Not Disturb’ so people won’t distract you.
- The right state of mind. Being motivated is probably the most important factor here. If you are not motivated, you will still get distracted by anything you hear, smell or see. If you are motivated, you want to get in the flow, so you will get in the flow faster!
You can probably speed up the process to get in the flow, but it takes some practice. You need to practice with getting in the flow to find your triggers. Having problems with getting in the flow or have any tips? Please contact me, I’m really interested in this subject and I want to talk to you about it!
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Twitter: collegethrive
March 23, 2010 at 12:50 am
Great Article! Your point about being in the “right state of mind” is very important. For me this state of mind is either between classes or right after a class.
Twitter: lionslinger
March 23, 2010 at 3:40 am
I have been practicing what you have shared here and I can attest that they do work. Also I would like to add that we don’t need to wait for inspiration to do its work on us, we can force our mind to summon inspiration by just thinking about it. Works for me.
Hi Dan,
Thanks for your comment! The state of mind is important indeed! So do you also study right after a class? Because you are in the flow already? Because that doesn’t work that good for me..
Walter!
Thanks for testing buddy! I really appreciate it.
I have a post planned about forcing yourself to get creative, so I think you are right!
Twitter: NielsGouman
March 23, 2010 at 11:20 am
You’ve probably read that I wrote an article about OmmWriter over at Lifehacking.nl, I believe simple constants can drastically improve the ‘get-into-the-flow’ speed. For example if you always have a certain song turned on, on repeat you’ll get in the flow for whatever far faster.
Niels Gouman´s last blog ..Tweets van week 11 (2010)
Hi Niels!
That is a principle I recently learned in college, ‘feed forward’. I think I can write a complete post about this, so keep an eye here!
Twitter: collegethrive
March 23, 2010 at 5:04 pm
@Stefan Not all of the time, but I do find it easier to head to the library after class and knock out some work while I’m on campus.
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