For me, the quickest way to get to a flow state is a good saber fencing match. I've done other martial arts too and those help me focus as well, but saber was my drug (still is, if I can find someone to fence with, it's not a very common sport).
I don't know if this is true for most people when they hit that flow state, but for me not only would I be totally in the moment, but it was as if that concentration gave the rest of my brain a chance to do a soft reboot.
It was very common for me to have some sort of problem I'd been fretting about for a while, go into a good saber match, and after the match was done that other problem had mentally found a resolution. I'd be able to
- accurately describe what had been bothering me,
- know the problem behind the problem (the fears we all have, loss, abandonment, betrayal, etc),
- know my priorities, need to have, want to have, nice to have, and my walkaway point,
- have a plan A, a plan B as a fallback, and a plan C as a fallback to the fallback already worked out, and
- have the first couple steps of plan A figured out too.
Somehow that ALL happened in the background of my brain while I was in my saber match (flow state).
Additionally, I'd be happy and calm for the next 36 hours or so.
So far I haven't had any chemical addictions, I like tea and chocolate and occasionally will drink some alcohol, that's about it. But if that feeling I described above, the happiness and the focus and the clarity of thought, could be put in a bottle I'd be very addicted.
It's also interesting that you said exhaustion will put you in that state too. There's still lots of times I'll run myself into the ground and wonder why, and then realize there's things I can't think about until I'm exhausted because there's too much mental chatter before that. That mostly occurs with emotional conflicts. I've always been good at math and have a degree in electrical engineering, so sitting and grinding through equations is usually no problem for me and I find it relaxing to read how-to books about how to make stuff that I'll probably never make. But if it's an emotional problem, I have to find some way to get my brain calmed down enough to think through it and I think that's part of the flow state you're describing.
I'm a woman in her early 50s. Everything I've described above has been true since my early 20s. So it's not just men that could benefit from the flow state. But I think most women are a bit more squeamish about "I'll put myself in a position to get physically hurt because that's only way I can clear some of this fuzz out of my head" than I am.
I believe when I am cooking on a restaurant when it’s really busy I get that flow state
Thank you for writing this.
For me, the quickest way to get to a flow state is a good saber fencing match. I've done other martial arts too and those help me focus as well, but saber was my drug (still is, if I can find someone to fence with, it's not a very common sport).
I don't know if this is true for most people when they hit that flow state, but for me not only would I be totally in the moment, but it was as if that concentration gave the rest of my brain a chance to do a soft reboot.
It was very common for me to have some sort of problem I'd been fretting about for a while, go into a good saber match, and after the match was done that other problem had mentally found a resolution. I'd be able to
- accurately describe what had been bothering me,
- know the problem behind the problem (the fears we all have, loss, abandonment, betrayal, etc),
- know my priorities, need to have, want to have, nice to have, and my walkaway point,
- have a plan A, a plan B as a fallback, and a plan C as a fallback to the fallback already worked out, and
- have the first couple steps of plan A figured out too.
Somehow that ALL happened in the background of my brain while I was in my saber match (flow state).
Additionally, I'd be happy and calm for the next 36 hours or so.
So far I haven't had any chemical addictions, I like tea and chocolate and occasionally will drink some alcohol, that's about it. But if that feeling I described above, the happiness and the focus and the clarity of thought, could be put in a bottle I'd be very addicted.
It's also interesting that you said exhaustion will put you in that state too. There's still lots of times I'll run myself into the ground and wonder why, and then realize there's things I can't think about until I'm exhausted because there's too much mental chatter before that. That mostly occurs with emotional conflicts. I've always been good at math and have a degree in electrical engineering, so sitting and grinding through equations is usually no problem for me and I find it relaxing to read how-to books about how to make stuff that I'll probably never make. But if it's an emotional problem, I have to find some way to get my brain calmed down enough to think through it and I think that's part of the flow state you're describing.
I'm a woman in her early 50s. Everything I've described above has been true since my early 20s. So it's not just men that could benefit from the flow state. But I think most women are a bit more squeamish about "I'll put myself in a position to get physically hurt because that's only way I can clear some of this fuzz out of my head" than I am.
🎯