Photo by Mag Pole on Unsplash
Sometimes we make plans and realize there isn’t enough energy and inspiration to get us out the door. We find ourselves frantically looking for stored energy — perhaps the leftover sparks from a week ago will get us through the day. When these feelings and thoughts start to arise, it’s important to note exactly when this shift starts to happen and what areas of our lives are being affected by it. To pull yourself back into a state of flow, where you become completely absorbed in an activity that brings you joy and pleasure, you have to find out what process works best for you to reach that point.
This process must ultimately nurture your well-being so your mind can invite creative pursuits into your life with less resistance. When you are overwhelmed by all of the activities that you feel obligated to fulfill, you begin to put aside the activities that bring you pleasure. The ultimate reward of your mindful action and embodied effort is the creative pursuit. Whether it be playing music, painting, hiking, reading, or redecorating your home, you deserve to be creatively absorbed.
Finding the best method to reignite your sense of motivation and rediscover flow is all about trial and error. Here are a few ways to start the process of finding a process. Let’s take the first step together.
Add a New Practice to Your Routine
Schedule this new practice at the same time each day. It can be as simple as waking up at the same time every morning, making a daily cup of tea, journaling and meditating at noon, or stepping outside once a day to feel the sun on your skin. Whatever this new practice may be, it has the potential to become a daily ritual within your life. This in turn helps you feel more centered, organized, and in control. As you incorporate these changes over the course of several weeks, you will see that the energy used to take these tasks on begins to feel distributed evenly across each day. Research shows that the repetition of specific simple actions can lead to automatic action. You can siphon this energy and propel yourself toward another activity in the same area that requires motivation. For example, after meditating, try eating a healthy meal.
Set Small Goals Individually or With a Friend.
We’ve all heard of long-term and short-term goals. These terms can sometimes come off as intimidating. However, understanding the time it takes to realize our goals can help us manage our time and action steps. Most importantly, for this exercise, we want to think small. Not just short-term, but small in size and in overall weight. Try focusing on creating a small daily or weekly goal that will eventually turn into a large goal once it is practiced accordingly. Examples to start with can include eating more fruits and vegetables, exercising once a week, or finishing the first few pages of a book you’re writing.
When writing out your goals, use specific language (dates, locations, colors, numbers, feelings, etc.) and be sure you understand what can be accessed within a certain time period (whether it’s within the next day, week, or month). Remind yourself why these goals are important to you and what kind of meaning they bring into your life. Consider the ways you can reward yourself to encourage consistency and focus as you continue forward. Also be aware of which new habits and practices you can add to your routine to aid you in reaching your goals, as these two processes work hand in hand with each other (refer back to tip 1).
Do you still need an extra push to write these goals out? If so, plan a physical or virtual date with a friend, family member, therapist, peer group, or coach to help solidify these plans. Sometimes that extra support can go a long way — so don’t hesitate to ask for help, guidance, or support! Remember, one little goal at a time. These little steps will create one big leap.
Write Daily To-Do Lists.
Before you go to bed, or when you wake up in the morning, try fleshing out your day in pen. According to research in the field of productivity, writing out a to-do-list can be equated to a brisk warm-up. Planning with lists can actually reduce the burden on the mind from the worry of unfinished tasks.
As you write your to-do-list, using less-specific language than in your short-term and long-term goals is welcomed, but your tasks should still be specific in nature. Focus on including tasks you plan to accomplish within that day, as well as recreational, mindful, or creative activities you would like to spend your time doing as well. Include the hour and priority of each task so you can follow along with your schedule throughout the day. And when you’ve finished a task, cross it out so it is no longer in your frame of concern; then, a small congratulations will be in order. If something isn’t reached that day, you can always make note of it and schedule its completion for tomorrow’s list.
Example:
10:00 am – Wake up
11:00 am – Edit papers
12:00 pm – Eat Lunch
12:45 pm – Take a break (light reading)
1:30 – 2:45 pm – Tidy up room
3:00 – 4:00 pm – Watch lectures for class
4 – 6 pm – Cook dinner and watch a movie
7 pm – Call and check on mom
8 pm – Prep bag for tomorrow
8:30 pm – Relaxing activities
10 pm – Try to sleep by this time
Remember not to be too hard on yourself! Applying these new practices may not happen overnight, or maybe you find yourself picking them up and putting them down as needed — it’s important to be reminded that each step you take to fulfill an action is valuable and matters. Try to follow one of these suggestions for an extended period of time and record your results using a journal or utilize the helpful tool found in this scientific journal (Box 1) for reference.
We all deserve to feel like time is flying by as we become completely absorbed in a state that brings us happiness, joy, pleasure, and creative freedom. Flow is available to us; we just have to find a path that aligns with who we are and who we are becoming.
The flow chart shows how three criteria — healthy habits and routines, meaningful small goals, and daily lists or action steps — can combine to give you the will and movement that leads to motivation and, finally, a state of flow.
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