If you’ve been struggling to get in the zone, here’s why. These 8 enemies of flow state make it hard to focus, build momentum and perform at your best.
Flow, we all want it. The focus, the rush, the oneness. Flow state is the ultimate goal and allows us to perform at the peak of our potential. When we merge fully with our craft, nothing else exists.
Whether you’re a martial artist, surfer, climber, footballer, runner, writer or designer, it’s important to achieve flow, and to experience the immense exhilaration.
The problem is, it’s not that easy. There are inhibitors of flow that make it difficult to get and stay in the zone.
These include:
- Distraction. Any kind of distraction (internal or external) can reduce focus and therefore, inhibit flow.
- Interruption. Constant interruptions (stopping and starting) prevent you from warming up, tuning-in and hitting the zone.
- Lack of skill. You can’t enter flow state when you struggle to perform the task.
- Boredom. If you lose interest in the task, you lack the energy, motivation and drive to do it well.
- Incongruence. Internal conflict, competing goals and a mismatch between performer and task limits potential.
- Stress. Too much stress can trigger a state of fear, anxiety and paralysis.
- Illness/Injury. A state of disease makes it difficult to focus and perform.
- Fatigue. As your body and mind fatigue, your capacity to perform declines significantly.
Let’s dive into each of the enemies of flow state below, as well as the best tools to override them.
Distraction
Renowned American drummer and session musician, Vinnie Colaiuta (Frank Zappa, Joni Mitchell, Sting, Herbie Hancock) said, “I have this mantra: ‘Thought is the enemy of flow,’ and I think you really can’t be fully present in the moment, especially in an improvisatory sense, if you’re thinking even for a nanosecond.”
He adds: “When you overcome that and don’t succumb to that sort of, ‘I’m going to think now, I’m going to think now,’ and you’re just in flow… everything takes care of itself.”
Any kind of distraction (internal or external) scatters our focus and inhibits flow. That includes thinking, planning, analyzing, and comparing. Our mind must be still (unfettered) for the body to express itself fully.
Practicing mindfulness alongside your skills is an effective way to quiet your mind and deepen your focus. Rounds of meditation or breathwork can help you to be more present for longer periods of time.
Interruption
We’ve all been to practices where the coach keeps stopping play to shout at the team. And played in matches where the opposition only wants to kill the game by wasting time. Stopping and starting makes it impossible to get into flow.
You can’t go from zero to flow in a second, so structure practices and events in a way that helps you shift through the gears. Deep breathing, a thorough warm up and sufficient time performing the task without interruption will put you into a peak state more often. This applies equally to sporting, adventure, and creative pursuits.
Lack of skill
Great athletes, musicians, and actors make it look effortless. They’ve completed so many repetitions and accumulated so much experience that they can perform with incredible flow.
That’s what we’re inspired by and aspire to.
But when you’re learning the basics of your craft, there is no flow. You’re slow, clumsy, and inconsistent. You need to think about mechanics. You need to understand the movements and the sequences involved. You need to feel awkward, make mistakes and be uncomfortable for the time it takes to learn the proper technique.
Use these practice tips to improve your skills effectively:
- Relax
- Slow down (so you can practice with a degree of accuracy)
- Focus on the fundamentals (and if necessary, break them down further)
- Focus on the skills that unlock other skills
- Repeat hundreds and hundred of times
- Practice every day, or every other day (a little bit often is better than binge practicing)
- List any obstacles to performing the skill (strength, fitness, health) and make a plan to work on those areas
- Work with a good coach
Read The Power of Practice and How to Practice Effectively for more useful practice tips.
Boredom
Flow happens when we care deeply about something. When we’re doing the thing we love most and we’re on a mission to explore, experiment, learn, have fun and push boundaries.
When we lose that spirit – the enthusiasm, the curiosity, the joy – boredom kicks in and flow cannot be achieved. Apathy is a flow killer.
Remind yourself why you do this. How did you fall in love with it in the first place? How do you feel when you’re fully immersed in the activity? What’s left for you to explore and experience? Light a fire in your belly and go.
Incongruence
Incongruence is when you’re out of alignment. Your goals conflict with one another. Your real self does not reflect the needs and wants of your future self. Your actions don’t match your words. You’re not suited to the activity you’re spending all your time on.
There’s an incompatibility of ingredients that makes you feel at odds with yourself.
To become more congruent, take the time to breathe, slow down and observe. Silence your everyday stream of consciousness (the noise) and allow your true self to be heard (the signal). Identify what you’re good at, what brings you joy, what outcomes you actually want to produce in your life and then hack away the elements that are in conflict.
Stress
Stress can be a great thing. It activates our fight-or-flight-response which readies us for action. With the right dose of stress we can achieve great things.
But too much stress, produces fear, anxiety, and paralysis. It cripples us instead of energising us to seize the moment.
Try to balance waves of stress with waves of recovery in your training and your life. Make stress your friend by seeking it out in a measured way and increasing your capacity to deal with it.
Illness/Injury
Illnesses and injuries are a part of life. Even if you sit at home all day, avoiding anything dangerous, you will still suffer from aches, pains, and disease.
Such maladies distract us, undermine confidence, decrease motivation and make us feel below par.
While we can’t avoid them completely, we can do a lot to minimise them. By following the tenets of health with daily movement, sunlight, fresh air, nutrition, and sleep, we build a robust and resilient system. Physical therapy, meditation and other deep relaxation techniques can also be used to aid recovery.
Fatigue
Performance drops off rapidly as fatigue sets in. You lose focus, you lose control and you lose energy. You might be able to keep going long after you’re tired, but maintaining flow becomes very difficult.
There are, however, a few things you can do to maintain a peak state for longer. Improving task specific endurance and taking care of hydration, nutrition, and sleep will help significantly. Try to build supportive lifestyle habits around your craft that meet your own personal needs.
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Featured Image: @stephtcook
Read more
Beginner’s Guide to Flow State
How to Stay Calm in High-Stress Situations