Finding Flow

I’ve been staring at my laptop screen for a few minutes now, trying to write a short sentence for my first full-length book. There is so much I want to share, but can't seem to find my flow.

What is it about writing that challenges me so much?
Why can’t I simply get in the zone and write faster?

I'm staring at my laptop screen again. I typed a short sentence but the flow of words stopped at once. I want them to flow but they are silent, not responding.

If there is one big thing I want to achieve with my writing, it's exactly that: Writing from a place which words just seem to come from nowhere and everywhere all at once.

A state of Flow.

Flow State

For centuries, people use different words and terms to express what they feel when they are “in the zone.” I personally like the word “flow”.

Being “in flow” or “in the zone” means that one is totally absorbed and immersed in an activity that it feels effortless. The outside world disappears and everything feels automatic. Nothing else seems to matter...

Perhaps the following passage from the book “Flow”, written by noted psychology professor, Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, during his 25 years of research on happiness, best explains the concept:

"It is what the sailor holding a tight course feels when the wind whips through his hair and what a painter feels when the colors on the canvas begins to set up a magnetic tension with each other...".

Imagine yourself lying on an operating table during a surgical procedure while your surgeon's mind is wandering off. His attention is scattered all over the place, perhaps thinking about a basketball game he has just seen or thinking about a paycheck he has not received.

You wouldn't want to be the one lying on that table, now would you?

Luckily, most surgeons cut themselves off from the external world during surgery and focus all their attention and energy into the present moment.

They are in a state of Flow.

Which leads to an interesting point; Flow is not just a random event, but can be generated voluntarily and for long periods of time.

Finding Flow Consciously

Being focused in the moment, oblivious to our surroundings, becoming completely engrossed in what we do; we've all been there at some point during our lives, but what's interesting to me is how we can get there consciously.

When I look closely at some of my flow moments over the past few years, I can see certain patterns emerge:

1. Objective

Perhaps the most consistent pattern in the quest of reaching flow is the existence of a clear objective. In every area of our lives, flow is experienced when the heart, desire and mind are all in alignment, when objectives are defined and well formulated.

With my life goals, for example, I always felt like I was going to accomplish something meaningful, even if it wasn't obvious at first.

Almost a decade ago, I decided to dedicate a whole year to socializing. Going out every weekend and at some point 60 nights in a row, chatting with complete strangers, hopping from one party to another.

On the surface, it may seem that all I looked for in life was pleasure, however my underlying and primary motivation was different.

At the time, I was living in Australia on a student visa and I was considering taking a leap and pursuing permanent residency. My English level was fairly average, which made me feel more of a visitor than a resident. If I was going to stay and adopt Australia as a home, then I was going to have to shift from my "visitor" identity and dramatically improve my English.

Socializing catered to all of this brilliantly, and I was in a state of flow pretty much every time I was out.

2. Passion

Whatever we do, if it isn't done with love and utmost care, we probably won't give it our full attention. On the other hand, when we're totally passionate we don't even know we're in flow, we're just there, in the moment, 100%.

One of the surest ways for me to reach flow is also one of my biggest passions - Running.

I always have the same enticing feeling before I hit the road, no matter if it's a cold rainy night or a bright sunny day. A feeling of sheer excitement washes over me, knowing that the rest of my world is about to go away for a short while and re-appear even sharper later.

Most often than not, when I'm running, I feel everything is in sync. I feel the nirvana of being one with my surroundings. I surrender myself to the sensations of tiredness and pain and embrace whatever comes up.

If only getting into writing flow was so easy as lacing up my running shoes and hitting the road...

3. Challenge

When we choose an activity that is too easy we usually get bored and eventually give up. In the same way, if it's too hard, we often get frustrated and eventually give up. Either way we give up on something of paramount importance to us.

The more we situate ourselves between these two extremes to ensure we set just the right amount of challenge, the more flow we'll experience in our life.

I remember putting that into practice with my surfing around the world. Early on in my journey, I was out there trying to ride big waves, exhausting myself within the first moment. The challenge was too great and I indeed gave up on my surfing crusade. Later, I learned to search for beaches with smaller waves, ones which were challenging enough for me to want to go there consistently.

Did I get to experience flow every time I tried to catch a small wave? The answer is no, of course, but occasionally it did happen, and I knew that with a bit more skill, surfing will be one of the best gifts I could have wished for.

Which brings me to the next point:

4. Skillfulness

Without holding the proper skills, we are unlikely to extract the maximum enjoyment out of what we do, and may end up losing interest along the way. This is usually where willpower comes in and keeps us going after the initial "motivation" has died.

However, willpower is a scarce resource and determination alone might not be enough in our journey to acquire a certain degree of competence. It is through the practice of daily rituals and habits of behavior that we're able to consistently work towards self-mastery.

As with every big goal I've ever set before myself, immersion and instilled habits were the key. I've put myself out there, even when I was not comfortable, and my skills were soon well developed enough to be able to attain my dreams.

5. Beliefs

Beliefs are like the operating system to our brain. I believe they guide every action (and reaction) that we take (and those we don't take).

We all adopted beliefs about ourselves and the world through personal and other people's experiences. Some of these beliefs do not serve us in the long run and in fact limit us from expressing our highest potential.

Throughout my life I had to banish limiting beliefs about myself and my abilities to make things happen. What I learnt is that we can choose new beliefs about ourselves almost immediately, without even the evidence or the relevant reference experience.

Which is something I want to do with my writing.

Writing in Flow

So what is it about writing that challenges me so much?
And perhaps more interestingly, what does it mean when I say I want to find flow in writing?

I think it was my mom who first told me I should write. That was decades ago when I still wrote in Hebrew. I just got to Australia and I was lonely, so for a few months I wrote a series of emails about life in a new country. Writing was my refuge, my way to rip all the loneliness out of me. The topic was Australia, but underneath all that it was just a way to make sense of the world inside of me.

My second significant attempt with writing was in English. Same as my first attempt, I used writing as a way to share and reflect upon life's journeys. Whether it be a trip overseas, my Ironman journey, or simply a random weekend escape, I played with the words of my limited English Vocabulary like a new toy.

And that's probably why I began to write.

Writing is like a toy for me; words move like puzzle pieces in my head, pushing and jostling to find their resting place on an unbounded and limitless board. As I go along, new words join, and the number of puzzle pieces increases, making the game even more fun, and at the same time, more challenging.

Challenge is nice and necessary but unfortunately, challenge alone is not enough for experiencing flow.

Finding Flow

Reflecting upon the reasons for not reaching flow in my writing, I now fully understand the them. They include: confusion over my purpose in writing, insufficient skills, disguised perfectionism, and a few other limiting beliefs.

The end product is quite satisfactory but it comes with sweat and great effort. This blog post for example took me great effort to complete. I had to stop and restart occasionally using thoughts of willpower and discipline to fuel my writing resolution.

Knowing the reasons for not reaching flow makes a difference though. The self reflection exhibited here is often all we need to propel us to action. I've already formed new habits around my writing skills and cleared up some limiting beliefs during the process.

More than anything, I know that flow will come - if not today, then tomorrow; if not this week, then next week; if not this month, then another time - The challenge, the desire to write, my passion to share, the and all the right reasons are there to make it happen.

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Finding Flow Tips

To get a few more flow tips, I had reached out to some of my entrepreneur friends and asked if they had some new insights into this topic. I thought it'd be good to end this post with a few of their top advice.

- Tim Conley: "Flow comes from mastery -- being able to do something without needing to think about it. My writing is ultra slow, too. Why? I think about it while doing it. "What do I want to say? Does this make sense? What should I write in the next paragraph?" However, when I talk I can just flow. Same subject, different medium. I started getting interviewed on a topic and having it turned into words on a page by a writer. Nearly every blog post I've done since last December was created this way. AND they were so much better than the ones I wrote me. So, if you are thinking about something you can't get into flow. Using a sports analogy: If you think about the best way to make the shot, you won't make the shot.”