Why Entering Flow State Feels Impossible
Summary
TLDRThe video script explores the concept of the 'flow state,' a mental state associated with optimal productivity and focus. It clarifies that entering flow is not an action but a state that occurs naturally under certain conditions. The speaker explains that achieving flow requires a balance of 'eustress' (positive stress), an absence of ego, and the ability to sustain concentration. Techniques such as changing the task's frame to increase challenge or using meditation practices like fixed-point gazing are suggested to enhance focus and facilitate the flow state. The script also draws parallels between the elusive nature of flow and the process of falling asleep, emphasizing the importance of practice and the right mental conditions for achieving this highly productive state.
Takeaways
- 🧘 Entering the flow state is not an action but a state of mind that happens to you, similar to sleep, which is also not something you can force.
- 📚 The flow state is often discussed in productivity circles but rarely with practical steps to achieve it consistently.
- 🔄 To enter a flow state, one needs to experience a state of 'eustress' or good stress, avoiding both boredom and being overwhelmed.
- 🧠 The reticular activating formation (RAF) in the brain, sensitive to cortisol, plays a key role in maintaining focus and alertness for flow.
- 🛑 Changing the frame of a task or increasing its difficulty can help combat boredom and engage the RAF, facilitating flow.
- 🤯 When feeling overwhelmed, it's important to metabolize the emotion causing the stress, with breathing techniques being a quick way to do so.
- 🎯 A lack of ego is crucial for entering the flow state; comparative thoughts and judgments hinder the dissolution of self needed for flow.
- 🌀 The flow state involves synchronicity of brain activity, where all parts of the brain are uniformly active, not just one or a few.
- 🕴 The yogic concept of 'Darshan' involves the dissolution of the observer and the observed, merging the self with the task at hand.
- 🤔 Formal meditation practices, such as fixed-point gazing, can strengthen the ability to focus and prepare the mind for the flow state.
- 💡 Consistently entering the flow state requires practice, specifically in maintaining focus and managing the right level of stress without ego involvement.
Q & A
What is the main argument presented in the video script about the flow state?
-The main argument is that entering the flow state is technically impossible as it is a state of mind that happens to you, not an action you can perform. However, there are methods to facilitate entering the flow state.
Why is the flow state often misunderstood as something that can be 'done'?
-The flow state is often misunderstood as an action because of the way it is discussed in productivity circles and media, but it is actually a state of mind that occurs naturally under certain conditions.
What is the relationship between stress and the flow state as described in the script?
-The flow state requires a state of 'eustress,' which is a healthy amount of stress that keeps the mind engaged and focused without inducing boredom or distress.
How does the reticular activating formation (RAF) play a role in achieving the flow state?
-The RAF is sensitive to cortisol, a stress hormone, and requires a certain level of it to activate and maintain focus, which is necessary for entering the flow state.
What can one do if they are bored with a task to increase the likelihood of entering the flow state?
-To combat boredom, one can change the frame of the task to make it more challenging, thereby increasing cortisol levels and engaging the RAF.
How can emotional overwhelm interfere with entering the flow state?
-Emotional overwhelm can lead to a wandering mind, causing one to focus on thoughts other than the task at hand, which is counterproductive to achieving the flow state.
What is a simple technique mentioned in the script to metabolize emotions and reduce stress?
-One simple technique is to focus on long, deep exhalations during breathing, which can help calm emotions and reduce stress.
What is the significance of the absence of ego in achieving the flow state?
-The absence of ego is crucial because the flow state involves the dissolution of the self and merging with the task at hand, which cannot occur if the ego is active.
Why is sustained attention or concentration important for entering the flow state?
-Sustained attention is important because the longer one can focus on a task, the higher the probability of entering the flow state at any given moment.
What meditation technique is recommended in the script to improve focus for the flow state?
-Fixed Point gazing, such as candle gazing, is recommended as a meditation technique to strengthen the capacity for sustained attention.
How does the script relate the flow state to the experiences of yogis and their spiritual practices?
-The script relates the flow state to yogic practices by explaining that yogis discovered how to enter the flow state as a step towards achieving higher spiritual experiences like samadhi.
Outlines
🧠 Understanding the Flow State
The first paragraph introduces the concept of the flow state, emphasizing that it is a state of mind rather than an action. It highlights the difficulty in consistently entering this state, drawing parallels with the challenge of falling asleep. The speaker explains that the flow state is not something you can force but can be facilitated by certain conditions. The key takeaway is that achieving flow requires a balance of stress, where neither boredom nor overwhelm can exist. The reticular activating formation (RAF) in the brain, sensitive to cortisol, plays a crucial role in this process. Strategies to engage the RAF include changing the frame of a task to increase challenge or complexity.
🌱 Managing Stress for Flow
In the second paragraph, the focus shifts to managing stress to achieve the flow state. The speaker discusses the importance of 'eustress' – positive stress – in maintaining focus and engagement. Techniques to manage stress include changing the perception of a task to make it more challenging or using emotional regulation methods like deep breathing to reduce overwhelming feelings. The speaker also touches on the psychological aspects of being overwhelmed and how emotions can be managed to facilitate a state of flow. The emphasis is on the balance between the task's difficulty and the individual's emotional state.
🚫 Ego and the Barrier to Flow
The third paragraph delves into the role of ego in achieving the flow state. It explains that the ego can be a barrier to entering flow, as it involves a sense of self that distracts from the task at hand. The speaker suggests that thoughts of comparison, which are rooted in ego, prevent one from fully immersing in the flow state. Techniques to overcome ego include meditation practices that help dissolve the sense of self and merge with the task. The importance of sustained focus and concentration is also highlighted, with the speaker recommending practices like fixed-point gazing to strengthen the ability to concentrate.
🌌 Entering the Flow State Consistently
The final paragraph summarizes the key elements needed to consistently enter the flow state. It reiterates the importance of managing stress, maintaining an absence of ego, and developing a strong focus. The speaker uses the analogy of falling asleep to illustrate the need for sustained focus and the likelihood of entering flow. The paragraph concludes by emphasizing the transformative potential of the flow state, as evidenced by the speaker's personal experience in achieving success in medical school through the ability to enter and maintain flow.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Flow State
💡Productivity
💡UST Stress
💡Reticular Activating Formation (RAF)
💡Ego
💡Meditation
💡Dharana
💡Comparison
💡Breathwork
💡Dr. K's Guide
Highlights
Entering the flow state is technically impossible as it is a state of mind rather than an action.
Flow state is often discussed in productivity circles but rarely explained how to achieve it consistently.
Yogis in Ancient India discovered the concept of flow state and its relation to sleep, where it's something that happens to you.
The reticular activating formation (RAF) in the brain is responsible for stress and focus, and is sensitive to cortisol levels.
To enter a flow state, one needs a balance of 'eustress' or good stress to avoid boredom or being overwhelmed.
Changing the frame of a task can increase its challenge and engage the mind, such as limiting units in a game to increase difficulty.
Breathing techniques can be used to metabolize emotions and reduce stress levels, facilitating the flow state.
Journaling and talking to a friend are alternative methods to metabolize emotions and prepare for the flow state.
The absence of ego is crucial for entering the flow state, as the ego involves comparison and judgment.
Fixed point gazing is a meditation technique that strengthens focus and prepares the mind for the flow state.
Dr. K's guide is a resource that provides comprehensive guidance on understanding the mind and controlling life.
The yogis' discovery of the flow state was part of their journey towards higher spiritual experiences like samadhi.
Entering the flow state consistently requires practice and cannot be achieved without effort.
The probability of entering the flow state increases with the duration of sustained focus on a task.
Dr. K used the flow state to study efficiently for Harvard Medical School, outperforming peers who studied longer hours.
Transcripts
technically entering the flow state is
impossible and today we're going to
teach you how to do
it there are a lot of productivity Chads
out there talking about the Flow State
and if you look at stuff like Harvard
Business Review in like Huffington Post
everyone's like oh my God like the Flow
State the Flow State everyone should
enter the Flow State once you get into a
flow State you can do this if you want
to be more productive and have a side
hustle learn how to enter the Flow State
and yet there are very few resources is
that actually tell you how to
consistently enter the Flow State and
the reason for that is because
technically entering the flow state is
impossible and today we're going to
teach you how to do it so let's take a
step back and understand exactly what
the flow state is because that'll tell
us why it's impossible to enter one and
also how to enter one the first thing to
understand is that the flow state is a
state it is not an action it's not a
verb so as human beings we can do things
that are verb BBS I can for example read
a book I can hold up a pen I can smile
and wink these are things that I can do
but the flow state is a state of mind
you cannot do a state of mind a state of
mind is something that happens to you so
this is a really critical discovery that
yogis in Ancient India made a couple
thousand years ago is they sort of
discovered that you can't actually go to
sleep it is technically impossible to go
to sleep what you can do is go to bed
you can lay down and then hopefully if
you're lucky the state of mind that is
sleep will happen to you and this is
something that you may actually be very
very familiar with because if you're
like me there have been times in your
life where you try to go to sleep and
you try really really hard to go to
sleep you get into bed and you're like
oh my God I need to go to sleep I need
to go to sleep oh my God it's so late
I'm going to be so tired tomorrow oh my
God sleep sleep now sleep now dumbass
sleep sleep and then the harder you try
the harder it is to actually attain
sleep and the flow state is exactly the
same way where it's not something that
you can do the good news is that much
like actually falling asleep there are
many things that you can do that will
facilitate the state of flow and yogis
are able to consistently enter a state
of flow or stay in a state of flow for
hours if not decades at a time so let's
understand what's involved the first
thing that you need to enter a flow
state is a state of UST stress so by
stress I mean EU the prefix that is
means good stress so we're all familiar
with distress which is what we sort of
call stress nowadays we refer to it as
distress which is stress that is bad
causes me problems and in order to
attain a flow State we need a healthy
amount of stress so if we're trying to
do a task and the task is too easy what
that does is induce boredom on the other
hand if the task that we're trying to do
is too hard that will induce distress
and will feel overwhelming in both of
these situations it leads to a Wandering
mind so if I'm bored by a particular
task at hand what's going to happen with
my mind I'm going to start thinking
about other things but what about the
case of being overwhelmed so if I'm
overwhelmed about writing this paper
that needs to be written by Monday at
8:00 a.m. then what's going to happen is
in addition to focusing on the paper my
mind is going to be thinking all kinds
of other things like what if I don't
write the paper fast enough what if it's
bad I should have started earlier should
I ask for help should I email an
extension what will the the professor
think if I email them for an extension
will they give it will they not give it
will they think I'm pathetic so if you
think about the the state of mind when
you're overwhelmed you're not just
thinking about the task at hand you're
actually thinking a lot of other
thoughts so instead what we want is a
state of something called UST stress
where our attention is going to be
engaged and focused so if we look at the
part of our brain that governs you
stress it's the this part of our brain
called the reticular activating
formation so the RAF is actually a
primitive circuit kind of in the back of
our brain that sort of governs our
ability to be awake and alert and
focused on a particular thing and it
turns out that the RAF is uniquely
sensitive to cortisol which is a stress
hormone and by uniquely sensitive what I
mean is that you require some of it to
actually activate the RAF but if it's
too much it sort of causes problem in
the RAF and if it's too little the RAF
is kind of like half assing it so we
literally need a decent amount of stress
chemical and so if you're struggling to
activate the RAF you're if you're
struggling to get engaged with a task
there are two things that you can do to
put yourself in the US stress State the
first is that if you're bored what you
can do is change the frame of the task
to make it more challenging so this is
something that like I used to do so I
used to be pretty good at RTS games
and then eventually like when I played
with my friends like I'd always dumpster
them right cuz I'm Dr K right
here son and so what I would start to do
to like make things interesting for
myself and you know this if you're a Pro
Gamer is you'll like start to restrict
internally the limits that the units you
can use right so I I was playing
Starcraft and I would go like all
firebat so I'd like pick some lame
stupid unit that like isn't that good
but I'm going to see if I can challenge
myself and LOL if I can crush them with
only firebats it will make me an even
more epic gamer and this is also
something that I use for people who are
bored by school which is that I'll tell
them okay instead of like trying to
learn the material pretend that you
going to teach the material a week from
now or pretend that you are going to
tutor in the material a year from now
and so by sort of increasing the
difficulty of the task internally it'll
activate more cortisol recruit your RAF
and keep you engaged on the flip side if
the task is overwhelming there are a
couple of things you can do to bring
that stress level down so generally
speaking when we feel overwhelmed we
don't feel overwhelmed because of the
actual tasks at hand the reason we
technically feel overwhelmed is because
of an emotion so if we look at sort of
the sensation of being overwhelmed in
the psychology like the cognition of
being overwhelmed it's actually driven
by emotions because even if you have a
paper do in 48 hours if you can sort of
ground yourself emotionally sort of calm
down and sort of develop a plan of
attack you can sit down and actually
pound that work out so if you're feeling
overwhelmed the primary thing you need
to do is actually metabolize the emotion
there are a couple of simple ways to do
that one really good way to metabolize
emotion or calm down emotion is through
breath so we know for example that
breath has a reciprocal relationship
with emotion so when I start breathing a
particular way or sorry when I start
feeling a particular way I will start
breathing a particular way so if I like
start breathing like
this
what do youall think I'm feeling right
now right and on the flip side I can
start breathing like
this and if you start hyperventilating
hyperventilate with me for a
second you start to feel like really
uncomfortable right you can induce that
discomfort with your breath and the flip
side of it is also true that if you take
a long deep breath and what we really
want to do is focus on Long
exhalations
just stop breathing close your eyes for
a
second if you change your breath the
emotions will change with it so if
you're feeling overwhelmed you can even
see pay attention to my voice right I
can feel myself calming down with a
single breath my voice is changing my
tone is changing and it's literally that
simple the more you practice it the
better you'll be there are other kinds
of emotional metabolism techniques you
can use you can Journal you can write
things out you can talk to to a friend
but literally breath is the most
powerful and sudden thing that you can
use to lower your stress levels and feel
less overwhelmed so now we have the
first of three things that we need to
enter a flow state which is a level of
use stress and so our brain needs a
couple of other things to enter a flow
State what we know about flow States is
that they involve a synchronicity of
activity across the brain so it's not
that one part of your brain is active
and another is inactive it's is actually
that all parts of your brain are kind of
uniformly active so what are the other
things that we need to capitalize on the
second thing that we need to enter a
flow state is a lack of ego so when
yogis were sort of studying the Flow
State they discovered a couple of things
step number one is when I meditate on an
object let's say I'm meditating on a
candle or something like that there's me
in here and there's the candle out there
so what I'm going to do is I am going to
look at the candle and I'm going to
focus the attention of my mind on the
candle and then if I focus the attention
of my mind on the candle long enough
what will actually happen is the eye
will dissolve and if you enter a flow
State you kind of know what I'm talking
about where you sort of lose sight of
yourself as an entity you kind of become
one with the thing that you're doing you
become sort of like an elemental like a
an elemental of the task at hand right
where you're one with writing you're one
with playing the game you may even felt
the sort of the Zone when you're playing
a game where you become sort some sort
of like channeling the Divinity of this
video game where the gods of DOTA League
of Legends or valerant are coming and
inhabiting your body and you are playing
at a level that is beyond what humans
are capable of and this is what happens
in the flow state is that if we
technically look at it the ego actually
dissolves and what the yogi sort of
discovered is that once we focus on
something we enter this second state of
mind which is basically like the Flow
State called called and this is where
the object and the subject become one so
how do we sort of keep our ego from
entering the picture because as long as
the ego is active we will not attain a
flow state so we can look at a couple of
thoughts that result in ego or that come
from ego so one is any thought of
comparison this is rooted in the ego
because I can't make a comparison
without there being an I right if I say
this person is smarter or stupider than
I am I have to have an intell that I'm
kind of aware of so as long as a
comparison is being made all comparisons
require a sense of identity I'm talking
about comparisons between you and other
people they require sense of identity
and as long as you're making a
comparison in your mind you won't enter
the Flow State and that makes perfect
sense right so if I'm like trying to
cram for a paper that's due in 48 hours
if I'm thinking oh my God I wish I was
more disciplined like this other person
oh man I should have started like this
other person why am I like this why
can't I be disciplined like my older
brother like like my older sister who
always gets straight A they're The
Golden Child why am I such a screw up as
long as your mind is making comparative
thoughts you will not enter the Flow
State so this is the one thing that you
should really really steer away from do
not indulge those thoughts at all so if
you're trying to enter a flow State and
your mind is making a comparison or
making a judgment about who you are I'm
so pathetic I'm so this I'm so this
breathe breathe in feel that cold air
come in and let all of those thoughts
literally go out with your breath and
return to the task at hand and now we
come to the third thing that you need to
enter a flow state which is a focus
level of concentration this is actually
the first step that the Yogi's
discovered which is the which is called
Dar so this is the one thing that you
can actually do which is to focus your
attention on a particular task for an
extended period of time so you don't
randomly like slip into the flow state
right so if I'm just like walking down
the street LA la la la I don't like slip
into a flow state of writing my
beautiful amazing fiction novel what you
actually have to do to enter a flow
state is to start the task at hand and
then you require a sustained attention
for that period of time and this is
where I would actually recommend formal
meditation practice to literally level
up the skill of focus so I really like
certain practices like bratara practices
which y all can find in Dr K's guide but
I'll give you all a simple example of
this I really like fixed Point gazing as
the most direct meditation technique
that will prepare you for a flow state
so fixed Point gazing is literally that
hey just a quick note a lot of people
will ask us what do I do next and that's
why we built Dr K's guide It's a
comprehensive resource that distills
over 20 years of my experience both as a
monk and as a psychiatrist and it's
designed in a way that's tailored to fit
your needs so if you're interested in
better on understanding your mind and
taking control of your life check out
the link below so what we're doing is
we're looking at one particular Point
without blinking for as long as we can
now I like this technique for a couple
of reasons the first is that it's hard
and so remember that when we do a
meditation technique that is easy like
observe your breath oh like pay
attention to the breath see all of the
Beauties in the breath oh my God the
beauty the universe the life
everything's in the breath you sit there
and you're like okay I'm
breathing this is boring I'm going to
start thinking about something else so
we need a technique that is challenging
to once again engage that RAF so that
our mind stays focused this is why I
love fixo gazing because what we're
going to do is stare at something for 30
seconds 45 seconds 60 seconds without
blinking and the harder it becomes the
more you kind of engage it and then over
time you will kind of get better at it
and so this will all strengthen your
capacity for darh so what I would sort
of recommend is a a candle gazing
technique this is calleda where you're
basically like with a half LED gaze
looking at a candle for an extended
period of time you can see we we've got
YouTube videos about it you can check
out Dr K's guide if you want more
options and stuff like that they're both
great but basically you should practice
this technique called draa this is the
one thing that unfortunately you're
going to have to practice I'm sorry that
sometimes if you want to learn how to do
stuff like consistently enter the Flow
State you got to actually practice stuff
okay what I've done is I've done my
level best to reduce the amount of
practice that yall need to do so that
you can have a high yield meditation
practice that will engage you and force
your concentration because as you do the
practice your mind will start telling
you hey we need to Blink we need to
Blink we need to Blink and so literally
what you're doing is restraining your
natural impulses and putting all of your
focus into not blinking now I'm not
saying that you should go without
blinking for like 10 minutes at a time
you want to work your way up right so
start it with 15 seconds 20 seconds 30
seconds but when it starts to feel to be
a little bit too much go ahead and blink
and close your eyes even and then let
that sort of relief kind of wash through
you it's going to feel amazing youall
should definitely try it okay and so
kind of coming back to the Flow State
what it turns out is that if you want to
enter a flow State consistently it's not
something that you can do which is
precisely why there's such crappy
guidance about how to consistently enter
the Flow State the good news is that the
yogis BAS basically figured out how to
enter the Flow State on their way to
sort of these psychedelic spiritual
experiences and this is where like the
reason the yogis care about the flow
state is they didn't care about
productivity danana is the flow state is
one of the steps on the way to something
called samadi which are these
psychedelic experiences in meditation
where you feel one with the universe and
you see your past lives and you can
travel through time and like all this
kind of you can feel the Infinity of the
universe and you feel connected with all
the other human beings like this all the
crap that even there you know fmri
studies that show that this stuff does
weird things to your brain and so they
sort of figured out that okay if we want
to have these cool psychedelic
experiences we got to learn how to enter
Deon consistently and what they sort of
discovered is there three things you
need you need some level of you stress
right so your reticular activating
formation is engaged and you're focused
can't be overwhelmed can't be bored
second thing that you need is you need
an absence of ego because literally the
flow state is the dissolution of the
self and the merging of with the task at
hand and the third thing that you need
is you need a mind that is strong enough
to be able to sustain your focus on a
particular task and the reason that's
important is the longer you can stay
focused the greater the probability that
you will enter the Flow State at any one
of those moments and so the other kind
of last analogy that I'll use is if we
sort of think about going to
sleep if I can stay in bed for long
enough eventually I will fall asleep I'm
not going to fall asleep walking around
so if I really want to give myself the
best chance of entering the state of
sleep what I really need to do is try to
stay in bed as long as possible and
that's what Thea does so hopefully with
these three things y'all can
consistently enter the Flow State and
once you're able to do that like trust
me it's awesome like it really makes you
so much more productive it's how my lazy
ass got into Harvard Medical School I
didn't like suddenly become disciplined
what I did is I was able to enter the
Flow State I was able to study for 2
hours a day when all my colleagues were
like friends were studying 10 12 hours a
day and since my state of mind was so op
like everything just kind of sank in and
like I did pretty well in med school so
you all should absolutely do this and
hopefully it'll
[Music]
help
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