A POINT3 Journal by Sarah Mayo, October 2024
So, it’s now my turn to put metaphorical pen to paper to share my “look inwards” four months on from when Nicky shared hers back in June.
As I stare at the blank screen, I close my eyes, take a deep breath and reflect inwards… What word first springs to mind?
It’s ‘flow’… now let’s see how this flows from here 😉
I’ve been writing a workshop over the last couple of weeks for a session I’m delivering for a new client of ours. And ‘flow’ is something that I will be covering as part of the session content… but it’s something that’s actually quite difficult to harness effectively day-to-day… given we live in an age of distractions, with change and disruption ever present.
But what is flow?
We’re all going to have a different interpretation of the word, so let me give you the definition that I will be sharing in the workshop…
The term ‘Flow State’ was originally coined by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi – who became known as the “Father of Flow”. The flow state refers to the psychological state of ‘optimal performance’. Also known as being “in the zone”, it is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energised focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity.
And the beauty of being in flow is this – when you’re there, in that moment – you are fully present. You’re not thinking or worrying about what’s been before or about what’s to come… You’re present. You’re focused. You’re immersed. You’re productive.
But back to the reality of our days… the notifications pinging on our phones, the emails flooding into our inboxes, the demands from our teams, the demands from home, the bills that demand to be paid, the news that demands our attention… and so on and so forth.
We are juggling so many stressors – the micro stress doses of daily living, along with the macro stressors of life too. It’s highly likely we’re going to drop a ball or two. Therefore we’re unlikely to be in flow very often or performing to our optimal. Whether that’s at work or in life.
So, how do we find that elusive state of flow more often than not? I believe it takes intention, it takes being mindful.
Mindfulness was one of POINT3’s founding practices back in 2018, along with Movement. Both movement and mindfulness are ways to manage the many stressors of life, and in turn to focus our attention and optimise our cognitive functions and performance – so we are able to find ‘flow’.
Fast forward seven years, and while our training content and workshops have evolved, what we believed back then remains true.
For optimal performance, we need to be mindful… whether that’s the intentional practice of doing a task or activity in a focused way (flow itself) or whether it’s by focusing on the breath as a means of practice to help us then focus our attention better.
Either way it takes intention.
And with intention, we can find flow more easily when it comes to working through the mounting to-do list…
But there are other areas of our life that will benefit too. With intention, we can focus better on the people in our teams and in our lives outside of work. We can focus better on the things that matter most to us.
So, as the flow of this post comes to an end, I’m going to finish where I started, with a deep breath. And then I’m going to look at my to-do list, my day and my life with a renewed sense of intention… and by asking myself how can I be more intentional today?
Here are some questions you could ask yourself…
How can I be more intentional in the way I…?
- …approach my work with more focus so that I am in my flow more often?
- …look after my health and wellbeing by prioritising non-work activities that immerse me in flow?
- …show up as a leader, team member, colleague, friend, partner, parent – one that’s fully present?
- …connect with the people around me fully and with curiosity and without judgement?
- …prioritise my to-do list in line with my personal goals, the team goals and my organisation’s goals?
- …take ownership of how I think, feel and behave at work and at home with compassion and curiosity?
- …lead by example, knowing that every action is an opportunity to live in line with my values?
And consider this, each answer and each action might just start with one deep breath…
Sarah Mayo is one of the co-founders of POINT3 Wellbeing, where she’s passionate about helping businesses and their people to balance performance and their wellbeing.
If you’re interested in finding out more about how we could help your people be more intentional and find flow more often than not, say hello here 🙂
