Flow Mastery

Those entrepreneurs who win are the most prepared.

And that’s what flow and focus mastery is all about – preparation and problem-solving.

You want to ensure you give yourself the highest likelihood, every single day, to enter the flow, stay in the flow, and achieve peak focus, as well as recover properly so you can do all of this again tomorrow and days/weeks after that.

Let’s start with solving problems around around tasks.

CHOOSING THE TASK – LOW-VALUE TASKS

Where many individuals go wrong, they choose low-value tasks to work on during their flow blocks. Or they choose tasks that are above their skillset and they get anxiety or paralysis-analysis. By choosing low-value tasks, you’re not doing yourself a favor.

You have limited daily focus and willpower – you don’t want to waste it on low-value tasks.

Here is what you can do:

• Figure out what the needle-moving task for your goal/business is.

  • Only do these tasks during your flow blocks.

• Look at your current goal. Break it down into smaller parts and repeat this “breaking down” process until you get to your daily tasks and what you need to do daily to hit that goal.

  • Start with a yearly goal, break it down into quarterly, then monthly, and weekly and you end up with daily goals to hit which are your daily KPIs and needle-moving tasks.

CHOOSING THE TASK – NOT KNOWING WHAT TASK TO CHOSE

If you’re not clear on the task you should be doing, automatically, your brain will take the path of least resistance which is usually working on low-value, distracting, tasks.

To prevent this from happening, find your needle-moving daily tasks.

Do them in your work blocks.

Schedule the rest (low-value tasks) for later when you have your low-focus work blocks.

CHOOSING THE TASK – NOT KNOWING WHAT NEEDLE-MOVING TASK TO DO FIRST

If you have a problem having multiple essential needle-moving tasks that you need to get done during your flow block, ask yourself this question:

“What needle-moving task is my biggest priority?”

Take those 2+ needle-moving tasks that you have to do for that day (if there are more than three, I would stop for a second and think if they are truly needle-moving tasks) and start prioritizing based on importance and time sensitivity.

If there is something important you need to get done by a certain hour, every single day, then do it first. If it’s not time-sensitive, then look at your task and think what is the ONE task you can do first that would yield the best results for your business as well as help you get to your goal faster.

After you find out, plan those tasks based on the prioritization you just did, into your calendar. So you visually see WHEN to do WHAT.

You can either plan every hour or plan your flow blocks (60-120 minutes long).

CHOOSING THE TASK – NO GOALS IN PLACE

If you don’t have any goals you can turn into needle-moving tasks for your business, then you first need to set a clear goal. The important thing to remember here is that you don’t want to have more than three goals at a time.

That’s because many goals will split your attention and focus, which will affect your results.

It’s always better to put all of your energy into one thing rather than ten different things.

The rule of three for goal setting is great because you can set financial goals, physical/health goals, and a purpose goal (making $X per month, losing Xkg of weight, impacting X people).

Those three main areas will create a domino effect for other areas of your life. If you can accomplish your goals in those three areas, everything else follows.

When you’re setting your goals, make sure they are:

• Reasonably unreasonable (not too easy but not too hard)

• Specific

• With a deadline

• Fueled by a strong Why (why do you want to accomplish those goals in the first place)

Once the goal is set correctly, you want to break those goals down into needle-moving tasks and daily actions/KPIs.

CHOOSING THE TASK – STRUGGLE TO GIVE YOURSELF WORK

Entrepreneurship can be challenging at times because you have no boss telling you what to do and when. You need to give yourself the right type of work and ensure you’re getting it done.

It’s a different game. If you struggle to give yourself work and be consistent with it, here is what you can do to make it easier:

• Set meaningful goals that excite you and drive you.

  • To make it even more powerful, create an ideal day in the life of your future 2.0 self living the life you dream about. Be specific and make it exciting.

    • What does the day look like?

    • What are you working on?

    • Who you are with?

    • Where do you live?

    • What habits and behaviors do you have?

    • What thoughts do you have?

    • How do you feel every day?

  • Set goals that align with your dream life. Don’t set goals based on somebody else’s agenda or idea of success. It’s your life. Set goals that come from your heart, not from your ego or somebody else.

• Understand and recognize the importance of your needle-moving tasks. Understand that these tasks will get you to where you want to be and all you gotta do is focus on doing them every single day without fail. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel every week. Just stick with what you have and with what works.

• Plan your day every evening as well as your flow blocks.

The next stage, after problems around tasks are solved, is removing distractions and preparing yourself for the flow block. Let’s dive into that.

REMOVING DISTRACTIONS – NOT KNOWING WHAT DISTRACTS YOU

If you don’t know what is distracting you, it’s going to be impossible to remove it.

Common distractions are phones, social media, websites, people, and music.

First, you need to remove those basic ones. Once you do that, continue with the process of figuring it out. Find out what distractions you currently have in your environment.

Simply think about it – what distracts you while you work? Write it down.

REMOVING DISTRACTIONS – NOT KNOWING HOW TO REMOVE DISTRACTIONS

You only need to block your distractions for 60-120 minutes at a time. It’s only temporary.

This means that you want to:

• Turn off your phone and put it in another room.

  • If you really need your phone around because you are expecting a call in case of an emergency or you’re taking care of somebody who could need you, put your phone in the Focus mode and create a list of people who can reach you. Everything else and everybody else won’t reach you.

  • When your phone is nearby, you are very likely to grab it and go on social media. That’s because you’re addicted to your phone.

  • You can also download app-blocking apps on your phone to prevent you from opening them or uninstall distracting apps completely.

  • To take it one step further, have somebody around (your family, partner, a friend) set a new passcode for your phone so unlocking it is going to be impossible since you don’t know the password.

    • You can do the same for social media, websites, or anything else.

• Install app and website blockers on your laptop (Freedom, Focus).

• Work in a room alone so nobody can distract you and take you out of flow.

• Listen to instrumental music or binaural beats – no lyrics.

• Remove distractions in your personal environment.

  • Everything else that wasn’t mentioned here, take it out and make it impossible to reach while you are working.

REMOVING DISTRACTIONS – NOT REMOVING DISTRACTIONS

Stop playing around.

If you are not removing distractions, consciously, you are not a serious entrepreneur.

You are a wannapreneur, waiting for things to happen.

Wake up before it’s too late.

With distractions in your life, you’ll never accomplish your vision.

However, you will always accomplish your anti-vision and life that scares the hell out of you.

Your choice.

Remind yourself of your goals and your vision.

REMOVING DISTRACTIONS – NOT BEING PREPARED FOR THE WORK BLOCK

Knowing what tasks you should be doing and when you need to complete them is crucial.

Before you start working, have everything planned out, prepared, and ready.

Have a simple workstation where you enjoy spending time and working and have everything you need ready at your workstation – water, headphones, coffee, pen, etc.

Not putting time aside to prepare can cost you a lot.

Start by taking 5 minutes before your work block to remove distractions and get everything you need ready. Don’t overcomplicate it. Have only a few essential things around. Turn off distractions and get them out of your way.

REMOVING DISTRACTIONS – NOT PUTTING ASIDE TIME TO DO FLOW BLOCKS

Doing your daily flow blocks is going to be the most important activity of your day.

If you don’t schedule it in your calendar or you have no idea when to do it, you’re setting yourself up to fail – big time.

Plan your day the night before as well as your flow blocks.

Plan them early in the day (right after you wake up or right after your morning routine) and don’t make them longer than 4 hours. After 4 hours of flow and deep work, your brain is depleted of the essential neurochemicals needed for you to enter the flow state.

REMOVING DISTRACTIONS – NOT HAVING A TIDY DESK/WORKSTATION

A tidy desk = a tidy mind.

A messy desk = a messy mind.

If you have stuff around, your mind is going to be messy and unfocused.

On your desk, have only the things you need – nothing else. Keep it simple.

After each flow block and work day, take 30 seconds to clean your desk and make sure that it is tidy, clean, and ready for your next flow block/work day.

This will have more impact than you think so keep an eye on it.

Once distractions are removed and you are prepared to do your flow block, you may have issues getting into the zone and staying there. Let’s solve those problems now.

DOING THE WORK/ ENTERING THE FLOW – NOT IN THE MOOD/PROCRASTINATION

“I’m not in the mood, I’m not going to work today” – you maybe said this to yourself a couple of times before. What happened next was procrastination and postponing your task.

This way, you will never accomplish your goals. You’ll stay stuck where you are.

Pros never rely on motivation and on how they feel – they get to work.

To do that, here are some steps to follow every time you feel like not doing the work:

• Remove distractions.

  • It always comes back to distractions. If you have no distractions nearby, you’re less likely to procrastinate.

• Remind yourself of your goals and vision.

  • Look at your vision board, and visualize the dream life you want.

  • If never get in the “flow state” and properly work every day, you won’t accomplish your goals – that’s a fact.

  • Those tasks that you set for yourself are your non-negotiables. Take it seriously.

  • What are the consequences of you not working on those tasks? And never achieving your goals?

• Reframe the pre-flow stage (struggle) to something positive instead of painful.

  • New perspective: The struggle builds you up and it makes a you a better person. How cool is that? The struggle helps you become more resilient and become the TOP 1% human being.

• Use a Jerry Seinfiled Technique

  • You can either sit down and do the task, or you can stare at the wall.

  • You can only pick one option in a situation like this.

• Shorten your to-do list.

  • You don’t need 10 tasks.

  • You need 1-3 needle-moving tasks.

  • The shorter your to-do list, the lower the friction to start working.

DOING THE WORK/ ENTERING THE FLOW – CAN’T FOCUS/DO THE WORK

If you ever tried to get in the flow state but you simply couldn’t get in the focus mode, here is something you can do to fix it quickly:

• Remove distractions.

• Don’t panic.

  • It takes 15-20 minutes to get in flow so don’t panic if you’re not there yet. As you know, that’s the pre-flow state. It takes some time.

• Inner dialogue.

  • If you’re telling yourself you won’t get focused or it’s impossible to do the work today, guess what? That’s exactly what’s going to happen.

  • You need to change your inner dialogue to a more positive and empowering one so you can prime your mind for success.

• Stop seeing your work as a “must” or as a “chore”.

  • Nobody forced you to start your business – it was your choice.

  • Stop seeing it as something you have to do every day, like a chore.

  • Enjoy the process and enjoy every step of it.

• Use the 8 techniques covered in the Flow Optimisation part.

DOING THE WORK/ ENTERING THE FLOW – CAN’T STAY FOCUSED

You’re in the flow block, but all of a sudden, you are drifting off.

That’s okay. Here are some things you can do:

• Use the techniques and action steps I mentioned so far.

• If you can’t stay focused, something is stealing your focus and attention.

  • Take a look around – what distractions are around you?

  • If ideas and thoughts are distracting you, the way to deal with them is to write down the bare bones of those ideas somewhere on a piece of paper or on a digital journal/notes on your laptop. Once you are done with the task you are working on in your flow block, you can deal with those thoughts/ideas.

• Understand that focus and flow aren’t linear – there are ups and downs.

• Ensure that the task you are doing is in the right challenge-skill balance.

  • 4% above your challenge-skill level.

  • Not too easy, not too hard.

• Use the 8 techniques covered in the Flow Optimisation part.

DOING THE WORK/ ENTERING THE FLOW – NOT HAVING WHAT YOU NEED

If you don’t have everything you need to efficiently work and focus during your flow block, you are going to be distracted and you’re going to take yourself out of flow.

That’s why preparation, before your work blocks, is important.

Go back to the part about preparation and ensure you are always ready.

DOING THE WORK/ ENTERING THE FLOW – CAN’T ENTER FLOW

If you struggle to enter the flow state, go back and go through to previous parts of this training. Also ensure that you’re meeting all the requirements for flow such as:

• Working in 60-120 minute blocks.

• No distractions.

• Taking a 20-minute break in-between.

• 1 needle-moving task at a time, no multitasking.

• Pushing yourself through the pre-flow stage.

If you miss any of these above, you won’t enter the flow state.

And lastly, don’t use pomodoro. That kills your productivity like crazy. It takes you around 20 minutes to get in the flow.

Why would you stop working when you just unlock laser focus and ultimate flow state?

Your output will always suffer if you are working in 25/5 intervals.

Now you know what to do before and during flow so you can master your focus. But it doesn’t stop there. There is one last point that needs to be covered. It’s the most underrated one and yet, the most essential – recovery.

RECOVERY – NOT KNOWING WHAT TO DO TO RECOVER AFTER THE FLOW BLOCK/WORKDAY

Many entrepreneurs make a mistake when they think that they don’t need to recover. That’s a lie and it won’t get you far. After your flow blocks, you need to replenish all the neurochemicals that have been used up and give your nervous system time to relax.

By doing so, you can effortlessly go hard at it again tomorrow without an issue.

Another mistake people make is that they don’t understand the difference between subjective relaxation and overall recovery.

Relaxation is not eating junk food, drinking alcohol, and watching Netflix – those things are going to make it difficult for your body to recover and they will limit your focus and overall performance since you’re loading your system with junk and toxins

You need to disconnect and recover properly. That’s by deliberate disengagement from screens and your work. That means doing a couple of those things every day/week:

• Sauna

• Ice bath

• Walks

• Good sleep

• Good nutrition

• Meditation

• Working out

If you don’t do this, you will burn out, hate your life, and won’t get far with your business.

RECOVERY – NOT KNOWING HOW TO RECOVER

Here is a quick guide you can stick to for maximum recovery:

• Cold exposure

  • A cold shower or an ice bath.

  • Daily – 3 minutes at 8°C/46°F

  • Cold exposure decreases inflammation and increases your dopamine.

• Sauna

  • 1 hour per week.

  • You can split it into 3x a week for 20 minutes.

• Walking

  • The best habit you can build.

  • Get at least 5k steps in – ideal 10k.

• Deliberate disengagement

  • Disconnect from screens, social media, and people online.

  • Your brain has to process a lot and if you want to recover from flow (which is already taxing on your nervous system and overall energy levels), give yourself at least 30 minutes a day of no screens, no phone, just you and your thoughts.

  • You can go for a walk without your phone, podcasts, or music.

  • You can journal or meditate.

• Good nutrition

  • You are what you eat.

  • Eat clean whole foods (organic) – grass-fed, pastured, no toxins inside.

  • If you eat crap, you’re flooding your body with crap and toxins.

  • Your body has to process and absorb.

    • By putting bad fuel inside your body, you won’t recover properly and your performance won’t suffer.

    • Imagine putting bad fuel in a Ferrari.

• Working out

  • Exercising helps you recover faster.

  • Once you finish training, your body releases neurotransmitters such as endorphins – those help your nervous system to recover.

  • Have a proper training program that is well structured and personalized.

  • Lift 3-5x a week.

  • Train every muscle group at least 1x a week.

  • Progressive overload each weak by adding more weight or doing more reps

  • On those days that you don’t lift, go for a run/hike/swim/walk.

• Good sleep

  • If you lack on your sleep your cognitive function will decline.

  • You’re going to struggle to get into the flow and you’ll struggle to recover from anything and you’ll feel really bad.

  • Get a minimum of 7 hours a night.

  • Create routines and your sleep schedule according to your chronotype.

  • Get at least 10-20 minutes of daily sunlight (helps with the circadian rhythm).

  • Cut out caffeine 6-10 hours before bed.

  • Cut out bright + blue light 1 hour before bed (blue light limits melatonin production – a hormone that helps you fall asleep and stay asleep).

    • Meditate

    • Read

    • Journal

  • Tape your mouth shut with medical tape at night.

    • So you can breathe properly, have enough oxygen, and avoid many other health issues that come with breathing through the mouth.

RECOVERY – NOT HAVING TIME TO RECOVER

Everything in life comes down to trade-offs.

You are always choosing something for the cost of not choosing the other.

You either prioritize your habits and maximize recovery and you’ll go all in on your flow blocks, chasing goals and making your vision a reality…

Or you don’t and you’re going to live a life you hate.

You do have time. You can always find time to do 3 minutes of cold exposure, 20-40 minutes to work out, and journal/meditate for 5 minutes.

You don’t lack time, you lack prioritization.

Plan your day. Stick with it.