Mindset Monday - Focus & Flow Recipe
“Flow is being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz.” -Mihaly Zentmihalyi
The pace of life is fast, sometimes too fast.
Every device, app, and show is trying to grab your attention and pry you away from flow. To capture as much attention as it can. Constantly throwing notifications at you, flashing alerts, those damn red bubbles on our iPhones that indicates an unread message. (The are personally my arch nemesis, they get me EVERY SINGLE TIME. Well played app developer, well played.)
We spend most days frantically jumping from task to task. Constantly thinking about the next item on the to-do list. The result is we often don’t give 100% to the current task as we feel the pressure of the next pulling at us. Our need to be “efficient” and answer every ding on our phone or computer, is actually makes us less efficient and effective.
This email is getting out later than I would have liked today for exactly that reason. I didn’t use the recipe below to knock out my Monday AM tasks. I feel into the reaction trap.
Usually on Mondays I wake up and do something that serves me (my morning routine) then I find some time to create. This morning, a client currently in a different time zone texted me, I responded right away. Then I saw the dreaded red bubble on my email app. Man that’s a big number I thought. I’ll give it a quick scan and see if anything was urgent. (Spoiler alert: nothing was do or die, it never is). Before I knew it, the kids were up and I was behind. I missed my window.
One way I have found to protect against the onslaught of things prying at our attention is to be purposeful with finding flow each day. Even if for only a short period. It is absolutely incredible what you can get done in 30mins – 1hr when you are purely focused, and are deliberate about falling into flow. If you are new to the concept of flow, there is a really fun book on it called “The Rise of Superman” – by Steven Kotler.
I suck at time blocking, I cant do it. I fail miserably every time I try, and the failure is actually counter productive to my goals, now I am just thinking about being a failure at time blocking 😊. I stopped trying years ago. What I am good at is getting into flow and making it a habit to do so daily.
Here is my recipe. This doesn’t need to take long. 30-60 minutes is more than enough. If you do it right you can get 2-3 hours’ worth of production out that timeline. Instead of the fragmented focus most of us have all day.
Turn off all notifications, put your phone on silent or better yet airplane mode.
Let the people around you know you are getting into focus mode. I have an LED light mounted on my door that has a little remote control that I can turn on and make RED so my team knows I am busy for the next 30. Mine has a timer as well that I can set for 30 mins so I don’t forget to turn it off.(I’m guilty of this). Amazon has a few different models to choose from.
Turn on music that has no words so you won’t get distracted by the lyrics and processing the meaning of a song. Songs in a language you don’t understand also work. My go to soundtrack is “Last of The Mohicans” (I know it’s weird, but I like it) another great one is the Gladiator soundtrack. Use this playlist every single time. Get your brain programmed to realize that flow time is coming when you hit play.
Set a timer. I use a basic digital kitchen timer. I don’t use my phone because then I look at my phone to check the time or I steal a glance at my notifications. (this will pull you out of flow. It only takes a second to get pulled out, and about 12 minutes to get back in once you lose focus).
I set the timer for 25 minutes. When that bell dings. I then hit the 5 minute button. Remove myself from the task, I don’t start another one. Get up grab some water, stretch, etc. Then hit the 25 minute button again and dive back in.
Make this a habit. Being distracted is a habit, so is fighting against it. Put this on your calendar as a block to maintain that white space. Once a day, I recommend either before everyone else is up, but if you cant then around your lunch break where people wont expect you to be immediately available, and a block on your calendar wont be odd. I would do it before actually eating. The sharpness that comes with hunger will get you into flow faster. Your biology is less inclined to find flow when its comfortable and rewarding you for feeding it.
Try it today and let me know how it goes!
Written by Chris Catania
Chris Catania entered the mortgage industry in 2005. As a seasoned Branch Manager and coach at Fairway, Chris has consistently been at the forefront of providing, creative problem solving, exceptional service and tailored financial solutions. His commitment to excellence and deep understanding of the mortgage landscape have made him a trusted advisor and a leading figure in the field.
Beyond his professional achievements, Chris is a Army veteran, devoted husband and father. He is an avid outdoorsman and hunter. Chris also brings his leadership experience and skills to the community as a coach, where he mentors individuals, teaching them the values of teamwork, discipline, accountability and perseverance. Chris Catania's blend of professional acumen, family dedication, and community involvement truly sets him apart as a respected professional and valued community member.
