Writer’s Tips for Getting into Flow

It's for everyone. No exceptions.

So, you might be thinking, you are a writer and you have plenty of years of practice with flow. But how is someone who’s never done it supposed to get into it?

Glad you asked. But first, I want to point out that you’ve already done it—you’ve probably done it during a hundred thousand daydreams—you just didn’t realize what it was.

Some basics: When you’re in flow, your skill or creative output comes easily and feels so great that you lose track of time and start doing the thing just to do it—not necessarily for any other purpose.

Also, flow exists on a scale from mild to intense. It can be different for everyone.

Here are some tips for getting into flow.

Clarify

First of all, set your intention. It sounds so simple, but coordinating with your Inner Self is Flow 101.

Say it with confidence: I want to get into flow, and specifically to do this thing. 

Identify

Recognizing flow is a crucial step.

Think of a time when you enjoyed yourself so much that you didn’t notice the clock or were so happy that you felt yourself drifting into bliss.

When you were totally engrossed in a task?

Have you ever had the feeling of being totally alive, like a switch got flipped and you were one with the rest of the world?

That’s you in flow, so pay attention to those moments. What brought them on?

Sense

Flow is a state of being that often feels like you’re getting out of your head. One way to trigger this is to focus on sensory experience.

Shift your attention to your body. Don’t think about what happened at work this morning. Don’t worry about tomorrow. Just focus on your senses right now.

Pause and pay attention to smells, touch, taste, and hearing. Try focusing on one sense in particular.

The gateway drug to all of these states is a sense of appreciation, so focus on sensory experiences that make you feel good.

Imagine

One of the important features of flow is a bypassing of the consciously-judgmental mind (the prefrontal cortex). This means putting yourself in a place of no judgment.

One of the places we go to when we do this is the imagination.

You can do this. In fact, you probably do it all the time in daydreaming. It’s the space where you get to do whatever the hell you want. You can be a superhero, and it’s all ok. You might come out of it and think: “Yeah right, that’ll never happen.” But while you’re in that space, you’re in flow.

Do this every day.

Question

Another way to trigger the imaginative space is to start asking “What if?” questions.

What if I wasn’t working at Bed, Bath & Beyond forty hours a week? What would I be doing?

What if I had all the money in the world? What would I do with it?

You are basically playing pretend, and you’ve been doing that since you were old enough to think, so you’ve got this.

Practice

We used to think that the experience of bliss and the inter-connectedness of all things was divine revelation, handed out only to those who were pure.

Yet this is one of the hallmarks of peak flow—a sense of belonging. You know, in this state, that you have every right to this exquisite sensation.

Does this only belong to the realm of the mystics?

No. Flow states are open to everyone—no exceptions. They happen on factory lines. At baseball games. They happen in kindergarten. At family reunions. At grocery stores and while hiking and driving and taking a shower. And that is us, allowing ourselves to catch up with modernity by saying that each one of us, no matter who we are, can experience a state of grace.