The flow state is the holy grail of your workflow.
It is all about your mind, your psyche. It is above the mundane, material things. The flow gives you things that money can’t buy. Yep, we are talking transcendental here.
But if it doesn’t guarantee success, money, or results, why is the flow often sought after?
Over the next few lines, we’ll discuss the flow state and how to achieve positivity and enhance productivity with it.
What happens when you get into the flow state?
Generally speaking, when you get to work, you may often feel like you have a long day ahead. You know you’re not there to have a good time, and thinking about “losing” eight hours of your day to work can be overwhelming.
When you get into the flow, you experience a shift in feelings.
When in the flow, you feel good. You don’t feel happy per se, but you are highly involved in what you are doing that you forget everything, good and bad. All you care about is the task at hand and its execution.
This feeling has a name of its own, eustress which means “good stress.”
And upon completing it, you feel exhilarated as you know you gave it your best.
The happiness you get from being in the flow is said to be the best kind of happiness there is.
Learn more: 9 Productivity Principles For Remote Teams
Improved performance
Naturally, when something has your entire focus and complete attention, your performance benefits from it.
Flow helps you work better, faster with ease, and enjoying it is just an added perk.
Studies show that people in the flow state were more cheerful, active, creative, and satisfied than their counterparts. Better performance also resulted in an increase in self-esteem among the people in flow.
Increased learning and skill development
The flow state’s key advantage is that you are free from distractions, tiredness, and all the negative connotations attached to work. Hence, it creates an atmosphere conducive to learning and developing skills.
Furthermore, science explains how being in the flow is great because it releases dopamine or the “feel-good” substance. Simply put, you start to take an interest in learning new things and improving yourself because it makes you feel good.
Also, dopamine heightens awareness, decreases distractions, and increases creativity. All of these factors contribute to increased learning and skill development.
Boost in productivity
A research concluded that an average person is in the flow for only 5 percent of their workday, but it can be increased up to 15 percent. In addition, a McKinsey study found that being in the flow can make you up to 5 times more productive.
The combination of those studies means that, under the right conditions, a person can double their productivity while in the flow state.
Keep reading: Flowtime Technique: The Ultimate Productivity Hack
Takeaway
In short, your productivity increases when you are in the flow. This is because you are mentally focused, emotionally in sync, and physically under eustress. A perfect combo!
Thus, it is clear how being in the flow can have many benefits without any outrageous efforts on your part. Akiflow can make the flow state even easier to achieve. Our app brings all your work tools together, so you can stop chasing apps, running after files, stalking reports, and stay at your desk(top).
Start a free trial now and just flow with it!
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