Flow Triggers: Your Cheat Code for Hyper Productivity

Read: 8 min | Listen: 12 min

Executive Summary

• Distractions and lack of focus rob you of flow's performance-boosting benefits such as the 300-500% boost in productivity.

• To get into flow you must concentrate for a certain duration of time which takes effort.

• But there are over 20 specific triggers or pre-conditions that make it easier to focus.

• Today we'll cover the top two: Clear Goals and The Balance-Skill Ratio

Your attention—your most valuable resource—is under siege.

It's constantly being pulled in a million directions.

Making it difficult, if not impossible, to stay focused on your goals.

Most of us are caught in cycles of distraction, addiction to "cheap dopamine" (i.e., smartphones, social media, YouTube), and compulsive multitasking.

After a "busy" day, we go to sleep tired and wired wondering:

"Where did another day go?"

There is an unease that we didn't make meaningful progress.

We are busy but not effective.

As we try to fight our way through the shit-storm of distractions.

We lose our evenings, weekends, hobbies, and time with loved ones…

Just trying to catch up.

But this is a losing battle that leads to burnout.

Otherwise, you also pay a significant hidden tax.

Fractured Focus Blocks Flow

Think of a time you were fully immersed in a hobby or crushed a project before a deadline, or experienced "runner's high".

That's flow.

That optimal state of consciousness where:

Flow can boost productivity and creativity by 300 to 500%.

And working in flow feels awesome which makes your work more enjoyable.

Making it easier to be more consistent without wasting your willpower to fight your mind's default tendency to be "lazy."

(To learn how to use the "flow state" to slay procrastination and accomplish 3-5x with less effort read my recent newsletter here).

The problem is that distractions deprive you of this potent performance multiplier.

Because…

Flow Follows Focus

Flow has a four-phase cycle.

To start this cycle you must go through the aptly named "struggle phase".

In this phase:

Once in flow… focus, motivation and hyper-productivity come easily.

Jamie Wheal, Flow Genome Project

But concentration requires effort.

Your brain will try to avoid it.

Unfortunately, many mistake this as a signal to stop.

So they:

1. Miss out on flow's significant benefits, which were around the corner.

2. Waste the concentration they had already put in.

3. And condemn themselves to a cycle of starting and getting distracted—wasting willpower without meaningful results.

Jamie Wheal, a world expert on flow and a mentor of mine, encourages us to:

Knowing that "struggle" is part of the process makes it easier to let go of the counter-productive resistance to doing the work of focusing…

You make it easier to persist…

Enter Flow More Easily With Flow Triggers

Here's the cheat code:

There are over 20 research-validated triggers according to Steven Kotler, a top researcher on flow.

Flow requires you to focus all your attention on the task at hand like a laser beam—and not like a flashlight or an unfocused lightbulb.

Flow triggers help you do this in two ways:

1. They trigger the release of dopamine and norepinephrine which increase your concentration and engagement.

2. They free up your mental energy through the reduction of cognitive load which is the number of things that you're trying to pay attention to at any given moment.

The more of the following triggers that you can integrate into your routines, the more frequently you'll get into flow.

There are five categories:

1) Internal Focus Triggers

These help you focus on the present by tuning out distractions.

Examples: clear goals, receiving quick feedback and having achievable goals.

2) Mindset Triggers

These align your focus with your life vision and what you value.

It's about having clarity on your purpose, mission and passions.

3) External (Environmental) Triggers

These cause you to naturally pay more attention to what you are doing.

For example rich environments with lots of novelty, unpredictability, and complexity like when you're skiing, surfing or entrepreneurial ventures.

Also music, caffeine and expansive awe-inspiring vistas like mountains.

4) Creative Triggers

These help you immerse yourself in the creative process through pattern recognition and connecting the dots in novel ways to come up with new insights.

5) Group Triggers

These promote a collective state of flow within groups or teams.

Examples: open communication, common goals and shared risk.

Today we'll start with the top two…

Internal Focus Triggers

Clear goals and the balance-skill ratio.

Because they are the best bang for your buck.

They are simple, easy and under your control.

As you read on, pay close attention to which ones resonate with you or have worked for you in the past to get into flow.

And be open to experiment.

Everyone responds to different ones.

Before we continue, I want to give credit to my two mentors who did a lot of the foundational research on Flow States that I write about:

• Jamie Wheal founder of the Flow Genome Project.

• And Steven Kotler founder of The Flow Research Collective.

Check out their work if you want to want to complement what you're learning from my newsletters.

Trigger #1: Clear Goals

This is the most critical trigger.

Whether it's a big project or a small task, knowing clearly what you want to accomplish makes it easier to take action and prioritize the most important things.

Your mind is always asking:

1. "What are we doing?"

2. And "What's next?"

If you don't have a ready answer, it can easily get sidetracked.

Start by making your goals SMART (the "what"):

1. Specific: Clearly articulate what you want to achieve. Avoid vague language.

2. Measurable: So you can track progress, celebrate your milestones and know when you've achieved your goal.

3. Attainable: Overly challenging or unattainable goals can induce anxiety and be demotivating. Match your goals with your capacity.

4. Relevant: Align your goal with your longer-term vision so that it is meaningful.

5. Time-Bound: A deadline creates urgency to help you prioritize.

Next, break down your goals into smaller steps to create a clear roadmap.

This covers the "What's next?" question allowing you to:

• Easily align your actions with your intentions.

• Move from one activity to the next with minimal friction.

• Concentrate deeply by not giving distractions any foothold to interfere.

• Notice when you're off track so you can course-correct.

• Track and celebrate your progress.

An example of an ineffective goal would be:

"Finish my newsletter."

In contrast, a SMARTer goal:

"On Sunday at 1 pm I will publish an easy-to-read newsletter (under 2000 words) that effectively teaches readers how to get into flow using triggers. I will also enjoy the process. My roadmap:

1. Mon → Create an outline, 2 hours.

2. Tue → Write intro, 3 hours.

3. Wed & Thu: Write body, 8 hours.

4. Fri & Sat → Edit & format, 3 hours

5. Sun at 1 pm → Publish it on Beehive."

Trigger #2: Challenge-Skill Ratio

You must adjust the task's challenge level to match or be just slightly above your current skill level or capacity.

To do this ensure that the task is:

• Neither too easy—this can cause boredom and disinterest.

• Nor too difficult—this can lead to anxiety and frustration.

They alert you that your challenge-skill ratio (C/S) is out of whack.

And that you need to adjust it to get back into the 'flow channel', where you are engaged and focused.

When you're overwhelmed, you perceive the size of the challenge to be greater than your perceived ability to get it done.

Your brain is telling you that don't have enough "energy" or "skill".

This causes anxiety and a wanting to 'get away'.

Some possible solutions to this are to:

• Break the task down into smaller, manageable chunks.

• Lower your load. If you have 20 things on your day's priority list, cut them down to 3 or 5, get them done and then decide what's next.

• Relax your mind: Go for a walk. Take a nap. Meditate.

• Increase your energy (relative to the task): Move or exercise. Recharge with a break. Sleep.

• Reframe the situation

1. Notice what limiting things you are saying to yourself about the task and/or your abilities.

2. Then, think of reasons why they are not true.

3. A simple method is to remember a time when you accomplished something similar and get confident that you can do it again.

Note: As your skill improves over time, take on bigger or more complex challenges so you can always stay in the "flow channel" and not get bored.

To conclude, let's tie everything together.

To experience more flow:

1. Pre-plan your weeks and days with clear goals that are aligned with your vision.

2. Then, break those down into smaller, manageable chunks.

3. And ensure that the tasks and workload are balanced with your capacity to execute that week or day. Don't overcommitt.

This will allow you to bring 100% of your attention to doing your single most important activity while increasing your probability of entering flow.

In my next newsletter, I'll cover the remaining two internal focus triggers:

Immediate Feedback

Gamify and measure your progress during and immediately after a task.

This gives you a clear sense of how well you are doing so you can adjust your actions in real time and improve continuously.

Complete Concentration

To achieve deep focus, you must concentrate all your mental energy and attention on a singular task leaving no room for distractions.

Next Steps

1. Take action. Implement one or two things that resonate with you and notice what works.

2. Click here to subscribe. Every Saturday, you’ll get:
   ➠ Actionable and unique insights to level up your game.
   ➠ Tools to access “Flow States” and avoid common pitfalls.

   My mission is to help you:

   ➠ Crush your goals and execute relentlessly with unshakeable resilience.

   ➠ And slay procrastination, overwhelm and burnout.

3. Follow me on X (Twitter), Instagram, Facebook and/or LinkedIn.

4. Share this with anyone would might benefit. (click the 3 dots on the left)

5. Comment below with any insights or questions you might have.

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Be all you can be!

Ovi