Have you ever looked up from something you’re doing, thinking it’s been 10 minutes, only to find you’ve been fully focused on it for an hour? That total immersion in what you’re doing so that you lose all sense of space and time? That’s flow or being in the zone.
With the right elements in place, such as clear goals, complete focus, feeling the activity is rewarding, the right amount of stretch, control over the situation, a sense of timelessness and lack of physical needs, we can encourage flow.
To sustain a state of flow your PFC needs to be in a state of optimal arousal, not too bored and not too stressed.
Knowing when your PFC is at its optimum and scheduling tasks accordingly can help improve your effectiveness. If you know that you have a high level of energy, alertness and concentration early morning, schedule your most important (or brain-intense) tasks then.
Not sure when the best time for your brain is? One of my coaching tools is for coachees to log their activities, degree of difficulty and energy levels for a period of time and then apply these learnings to plan their days. You could do this in Excel, your diary, on a piece of paper, or feel free to use the activity and energy log below.
You might be surprised at what you learn.
Would you like help with goal setting and habit building? Contact me for a confidential, no obligation, discussion about coaching to facilitate positive change.
Photo by Gabrielle Henderson on Unsplash