Leadership Styles: February 2013

8 Steps to Reach Your Working Flow

“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” - Buddha

Have you ever lost your job, so you lose track of time? By a group of this kind is consumed while it can be rare for most people, a state of the flow is to be called.

In my experience it is to be a key opportunity to work, and a nice side effect is that not only reduces stress but increases your productivity. Not bad, right?

When I wrote about the magical power of focus, I promised to write more about how to get a flow, a concept that is now very popular and something most of us have experienced at one time or another.

Today we are at a glance what flow is why it is important and how it can achieve increased productivity and happiness at work on a regular basis

What flow?

In other words, it is a state of mind to achieve when you're fully immersed in a task, forgetting the outside world. This approach is proposed by positive psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and these days, you're likely to read about it on blogs and in all kinds of magazines.

If you are in the flow state, you

• on the task completely focused;

• about themselves, about others, about the world around them forget;

• forgotten time;

• feel happy and in control; and

• be creative and productive.

One thing I love about Flow is that it takes the Zen concept is complete at this point, and applies to work tasks. It is a concept that I talked a lot here on Zen Habits - be in the moment, focus on a single task and find a sense of peace and happiness in your work. Flow is exactly.

Why is Flow Vital?

I believe that the ability of a single task (as opposed to contrast multi-task) is one of the keys to true productivity. Not the kind of productivity where you knock off 20 items from your list of things to do (although this can be satisfying), where you long occupied all the time between tasks all day turn and hold.

Real productivity I mean is the kind where you actually achieve your goals, you the important things and sustainable to achieve. As a writer means that maybe writing one or two important and memorable items rather than 20 or 50 unimportant, people will forget 5 minutes after reading. This means doing big projects, instead of answering a series of emails, thousands of phone calls, attend a number of meetings and paperwork mix all day. This means closing key deals. This means the quality rather than quantity.

And once you have learned to focus on these types of projects and important task is the flow as you do. Lose yourself in this important and difficult task, and instead of being constantly interrupted by minor things (calls, emails, instant messages, employees, etc.), you are long enough to focus on the tasks that they can actually complete.

And you lose them, you will enjoy yourself more. You reduce stress while increasing quality output. You get important stuff done instead of just getting things. You realize things and not just to keep busy.

Flow is one of the keys to all.

How to Achieve Flow and Happiness in Your Work

So how do you achieve this mystical state of being? You need to meditate or sing something? No, you (although meditation can improve your ability to focus) not. And the flow is anything but mystical - it is very convenient and to achieve this, are not mysterious.

It may take practice, but will make you better. The most important steps are to achieve and the benefits of flow:

1. Choose the job you love. If you dread a task, you struggle to lose. If your work is made of fabric that you hate, you might want to consider looking for another job. Or consider projects that seek to make love in your current job. Definitely be sure that whatever task you choose is something you can be passionate about.

2. Choose an important task. There is work that you love, that is simple and unimportant, and then he likes the work to have a long term impact on your career and life. Choose this one, since it will be a much better use of your time, and the flow.

3. Make sure there is a challenge, but not too hard. If a task is too easy, you can complete without a lot of thought and effort. A task should be fairly difficult, and requires your full attention. However, if it is too hard, it's hard to get lost in how you spend most of your concentration just to know how to do it - either or you'll end up discouraged. It may take some trial and error to find tasks of the appropriate level of difficulty.

4. Find your quiet, peak hours. This is actually two steps together into one. First, you want to find a time that's quiet, or you'll never be able to concentrate. For me, it is in the morning before the rush of everyday life builds to a dull roar. This could be in the morning when you wake right up, or at the beginning of the working day, when most people are not yet arrived or are still coffee and settled down. Or you could try the lunch break, when people are out of the office in general. Function also good evening for many people. Or, if you're lucky, you can do the day at any time, if you can find a quiet place in the work. Whatever time you choose, it should also be a peak energy time for you. Some people are tired after lunch - which is not a good time for the flow going. Find a time when you have lots of energy and can focus.

5. Remove distractions. Outside a quiet time and place to find a job, you must remove all other distractions. This means that the annoying music off (unless you music that helps you focus), turning off phones, email and IM notifications, Twitter and Growl, and anything that could popup or noise to interrupt your thoughts. I also find it helpful to clear my desk, even if it means sweeping miscellaneous papers into a folder to be sorted later. Of course, these days are nothing on my desk, but I was not always the case. A clear desk helps immensely.

6. Learn as long as possible to focus on this task. This requires some practice. You need to start on your chosen subject and as long as it keep your attention on how you can. First, many people will have trouble if they are constantly used to switch between tasks. But keep trying, and keep your attention once again to bring to your task. You'll be better. And if you continue to focus on this task without distractions, and if you have chosen your work (what you like, something important in difficult topic) you should lose the flow.

7. Enjoy. Get lost in the stream is an amazing thing, in my experience. It feels good to be worth paying a little to make great progress on a project or an important task to something that you are passionate to do. Take the time to enjoy this feeling (perhaps after the fact - it is difficult to enjoy while you are in the stream).

8. Keep practicing. Each step will take some practice to find a quiet peak time for you, to clearing distractions, select the correct object. Above all, keep your focus on a task for a long time. But each time you fail, try to learn from it. Each time you succeed, you must also learn from it - what you really? And the more you practice, the better you will get.

Leadership Styles

Thursday, February 28, 2013

8 Steps to Reach Your Working Flow

Blog Archive