Four Tools That Help Me Reach Flow State Easily as a Writer
Writing has the potential to become one of two things: a laborious process full of drudgery or a positive and rewarding creative outlet. The difference lies in whether or not a flow state is present.
What is a flow state? According to Positive Psychology, it’s the mental state in which a person is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, involvement, and enjoyment in the process of an activity. It’s what makes time fly by and your words flow effortlessly. As a professional writer, I’ve been able to narrow down the most important tools that help me reach a flow state easily.
1. Spotify’s White Noise Sound
I don’t know about you, but I find it very difficult to work productively on projects, especially writing projects, if there isn’t complete silence. I’ve tried playing classical music, music with no words, nature sounds, you name it. For the life of me, I still can’t seem to focus.
This is fine except for the fact that I can’t ALWAYS be in a place of complete silence… I was tired of moving every time a noisy couple sat near me at a coffee shop or tabling a project anytime someone made a phone call in the next room.
Blocking out my environment with white noise was a total game-changer for me. I began getting so much more work done in long, uninterrupted flow that my productivity basically doubled. Next time you sit down to work, pop your headphones in and play this Spotify White Noise sound. It turns ANY overstimulating environment into the perfect workspace.
2. Do-Not-Disturb Mode
You’ve heard it before: our brains are not designed to multitask. According to a study by the University of California, it takes 23 minutes to get back to a task after being interrupted. Being in a flow state of mind requires that you shut the world out around you, and depending on your tolerance, even the slightest external stimuli can pull you out of it.
Thankfully, Apple knows this, and after iOS 15 they came out with a Focus center where you can silence calls, alerts, and notifications on your iPhone. I use Do-Not-Disturb mode when I want to get deeply immersed in a project, but if you feel that cutting yourself off from all forms of communication is too extreme, you can use Work mode or Personal mode to customize what notifications you get and who you get them from.
3. A Pact to Stop Self-Editing
Now that we’ve blocked out the world around you, it’s time to stop blocking yourself. Creativity is messy, and you’re not supposed to get it right on the first try. Self-editing during the initial writing process will slow you down, pull you out of flow, and kill your creativity.
Ever heard the saying “If it’s worth doing well, it’s worth doing poorly first?” that’s because perfectionism hinders us. Be willing to get your raw ideas on paper before you go back to your work and edit.
4. Batch Tasking
Last but not least, I’d like to introduce you to my dear friend: batch tasking. Batch tasking is when you group together similar projects to be completed in the same timeframe. Like tasks=faster completion.
Task switching, as explained in the first point, is detrimental to our focus and creative stamina. Consistently going back and forth between different tasks puts you on a fast-track road to burnout and will make your brain feel like it’s working overtime.
If you have multiple blogs to write, sit down to complete a couple at a time. Don’t edit, and don’t get side-tracked by your email or other to-dos. Complete your tasks, and after you’ve moved on, get started on another group of similar tasks (such as editing those blogs).
I hope these tools are helpful to you in your effort to achieve flow state. It truly does make the work more enjoyable! If you like my work and are looking for a content writer, you can click here to book a discovery call. Happy writing!
