How to Get Into a Flow State

This guide shows you how to create the conditions to achieve a flow state. We’ll cover how to choose one clear, meaningful goal, the importance of monotasking, and working at the edge of your abilities—while protecting your attention from digital distractions.

We’ll also cover how to use routines and tools (like 1Focus) so deep focus becomes your default, not the exception.

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🌀 What is Flow?

Flow is a concept developed by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. It refers to a psychological state of deep focus and optimal experience that enhances well-being.

You know you’ve achieved a flow state when you’re so absorbed in an activity that time seems to fall away, you lose self-consciousness, and you do your very best work.

Flow is the deepest form of focus and attention. People often remember these moments as the highlights of their lives.

Can you think of a moment when you felt this way? What were you doing?

🧐 How Can You Tell if You Have Achieved Flow?

You know you’ve achieved flow when:

• You have intense focus and concentration on the activity you are doing.
• There is a clear balance between the task’s challenge and your skills.
• You experience a sense of enjoyment and intrinsic reward from the activity.
• Your perception of time distorts—often feeling that it passes quickly or falls away.
• You lose self-consciousness or a sense of ego during the task.

When in the past week did time disappear for you—and what conditions made that possible?

🚀 Benefits of Flow

Key benefits include:

• Makes even difficult activities feel enjoyable while you’re doing them.
• Intrinsically rewarding — the act justifies itself and brings deep satisfaction.
• The more you experience flow, the better you feel.
• Creating the right circumstances for flow can make you happier and healthier over time.
• Flow moments can leave you feeling bigger, deeper, and calmer.

Overall, flow is an optimal mental state for peak performance and happiness, and people report finding it during work, study, sports, and creative endeavors.

🤔 How to Achieve Flow?

So, how do we achieve a state of flow?

If you are reading this, you may have noticed that your attention span has shortened over time, or you may be having trouble concentrating. The good news is that it’s not entirely your fault: the internet, social media, and constant connectivity have changed the way we learn, work, and retain information.

Do you remember what it was like when you were a child? Not so long ago, we had to visit an actual library, find a book, and read until we found the answers to our homework. Writing was also a different story. We had to take notes during class and spend a fair amount of time checking the spelling of our assignments before handing them to the professor.

Now, you can type your ideas into DeepL or ChatGPT and receive a polished draft in seconds. Even your phone’s autocorrect feature checks spelling and speeds up replies. The problem arises when we need to write on paper without access to the web 🙈.

However, technology can be a blessing. We can adapt and use it to our advantage to achieve personal and professional success rather than letting it weaken our skills.

So, how can we get back to basics and achieve a state of flow? First, clarify your goal. What are you working toward? What exactly do you want to achieve? Are you finding it hard to focus on work you don’t enjoy, or are you trying to learn new material for your studies?

If you find it hard to concentrate on repetitive or boring tasks at work, consider asking for a more challenging project that requires active thinking.

When it comes to personal fulfillment, you have more flexibility. You can shape your hobbies and projects around your personality, values, and skills.

🎯 1. Set a Clear, Meaningful Goal

We usually make a list of goals for the year in December, or for the week every Sunday. It might be something like “I will join a gym next year,” or “I will read the book chapter tomorrow.” These are good ideas in theory, but they’re too general and don’t create commitment. The key is to be clear about the steps you’ll take—specific and realistic.

Choose one single, clearly defined goal that’s meaningful to you, and set aside your other goals while you work on it.

For example, if you’re a student and your goal is to pass all your exams, graduate on time, and start your career, break that into smaller steps. At the start of the semester, focus on passing the current unit; if the unit has several quizzes, those become smaller goals; at the end of the semester, the goal is to pass the final exam.

Be specific and realistic, and clarify each small step you’ll take each day to pass the weekly assessments that prepare you for the final exam.

To summarize:

1. Define a SMART and meaningful goal.
2. List and prioritize objectives.
3. Manage your time. Create a structured routine that reflects your daily reality. The time-management technique “time blocking” can help.

🧗‍♂️ 2. Seek a Challenge That Matches Your Skills

• While defining your goals, make sure the challenge is slightly beyond your current abilities—enough to engage you, but not so difficult that it becomes overwhelming.
• If it’s too easy, you’ll get bored.
• If it’s too hard, you’ll feel anxious.
• Aim for the sweet spot where progress feels challenging yet achievable.

🔗 Why You Should Embrace Challenging Projects

☝️ 3. Focus on One Thing at a Time

• Flow is much more likely to occur when your full attention is directed at a single objective.
• Every time you switch between tasks or check your phone, you disrupt the continuity your brain needs for flow.
• Commit to one task until it’s finished or your focus session is over.
• Set aside other projects, and resist the urge to “just check” your email, social media, or messages.

🔗 The Benefits of Monotasking

⛔️ 4. Eliminate Distractions

If you have experienced enough interruptions in your daily life, you will begin to interrupt yourself even after you are no longer interrupted by external factors.

Ever check your phone because you thought you heard it vibrate or ping, only to realize there was no new notification?

Keep in Mind

• Flow is extraordinarily fragile. Screens and notifications pull your attention away just as you’re settling in.
• Messaging apps can be as disruptive as social media. Frequent pings, busy group chats, and “always-on” channels (e.g. WhatsApp) fragment attention the same way an endless feed does.
• The mere expectation of a message can lower accuracy and slow you down—so aim to remove both alerts and the temptation to check.

Make Interruptions Unlikely

• Turn off nonessential alerts. Mute group chats, disable sounds/vibrations, and remove notification badges.
• Use Focus/Do Not Disturb mode during work sessions. Schedule quiet periods so pings don’t break your streak.
• Set check-in windows. Batch messages at planned times instead of “just checking” every 5 minutes.
• Keep your phone out of reach. Put it in another room during focus blocks.
• If you wear a smartwatch, allow calls only and mute the rest to avoid wrist-sized interruptions.
• Set expectations with others. Let people know you’re in a focus session and will reply later.

Create a Distraction-Resistant Setup on Your Mac

• Use 1Focus on your Mac to block apps and websites.
• For strict monotasking, run an allowlist that permits only the apps and sites you need for work.
• Pair blocking with time blocking: schedule 1Focus to match your calendar (e.g. Mo–Fr, 8 AM–12 PM and 1 PM–5 PM).
• For quick sprints, start a short block (e.g. 30–60 minutes) and get straight to work.
• Prevent workarounds: also block unsupported web browsers, the App Store, Activity Monitor, Terminal, or System Settings during sessions.
• Test your setup once, then let the schedule run so you can focus on the task.

Building a routine around scheduled, focused time helps you create the right circumstances for flow.

🔗 How to Avoid and Manage Digital Distractions

🔗 Work More Efficiently on Your Mac: 1Focus and Time Blocking

🧘 5. Make Flow a Habit

• Regularly set aside time to focus on a single, clearly defined, meaningful goal at the edge of your abilities.
• Protect those sessions with simple routines: same start time, same place, same pre‑work ritual, and a scheduled blocker.
• After each session, note what helped you stay absorbed so you can recreate those conditions next time.
• Over time, the more flow you experience, the better you will feel, and the easier it will be to get there.

💤 6. Check Your Sleep and Nutrition Habits

To ensure optimal mental performance, your body needs to be well taken care of. Don’t forget to:

• Exercise regularly.
• Be mindful of your eating habits and caffeine intake.
• Keep a regular sleep routine.
• Reduce your stress levels.

🚀 Takeaways

• Choose one single, clearly defined goal that is meaningful to you, and set aside other goals while you work.
• Aim for a challenge at the edge of your abilities—slightly higher and harder than the last time.
• Monotask: don’t try to do two or more things at the same time.
• Protect your attention: mute notifications, keep your phone out of reach, and treat messaging apps (e.g. WhatsApp) like social media.
• Remove screen-based interruptions with scheduled blocks; pair blocking with time blocking or an allowlist in 1Focus.
• Make it a habit: the more flow you experience, the better you feel—and the easier it becomes to get there.
• Support focus with good sleep, nutrition, exercise, and stress management.

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📚 Keep Reading

• How to Improve Focus and Concentration
• Top Productivity Tips from Experts

If you’d like more posts like this, or want me to write about a specific topic, send me an email—I’d be very happy to hear from you!

This article is not sponsored; no compensation was received for its creation. It reflects the author’s personal interpretation of the cited research and her own experience and opinions. It is provided for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.