Creative Flow

Entering and Optimizing the Creative Flow State

I always wondered about the creative flow state. I subconsciously knew it existed, but felt it was very illusive and never felt like I could harness it. I always thought if someone could bottle it, they could make a fortune. I’m talking about the creative flow state where you lose track of all time and you become one with the project in front of you.

There are 7 steps for optimizing the highly creative flow state:

1. Have a clear purpose.
To crank up the flow state, you need a goal. Decide what you want to create and why. Start with a clear intention like, “I am going to draw a black and white illustration for my portfolio.”

If you are working on a larger project with a broader scale, state your purpose for this single creative session. What will you accomplish right now? Do you need a character design? Will you need to paint the background for an illustration?

Don’t box yourself in – leave yourself enough clarity that it will be a general direction. Let it simply be enough to get you working.

2. Have a motive.
Why do you need to be creative? Does the task affect you personally? Why do you care about the project?

If I don’t care about the project I’m working on, no matter how hard I try, the creative will not flow! I have got to care about the project I am working on, otherwise time will pass slowly and chances are good that it will not be my best work.

3. Let there be a worthy challenge.
To awaken your true and worthy potential, let the challenge rate on a scale of 1-10, 1 being remedial and 10 being rocket-science, around a 7-8. You want a task that will keep your attention, but not something that is so ridiculously easy or difficult that you lose interest.

4. Provide yourself a conducive environment.
You will find certain conditions are better for entering the creative flow state than others, and other conditions will make it completely impossible. The optimum environment varies from person to person, so you will need to experiment to see what works best for you.

I work best when I am completely alone and have music on in the background. I have to have complete “heads down” time with absolutely no interruptions. I suggest experimenting with different music to see what has an effect on your ability to maintain the creative flow state.

5. Schedule a committed block of time.
It normally takes me about 15 minutes before I begin to enter the flow state. After about 30-45 minutes, I’m totally consumed and flowing. After the first hour, I tend to hit the state of deep concentration and the only time I stop working is for snack breaks or fatigue.

I think a work block of 3 hours should be minimum for a serious creative task, maybe even closer to 5-6 hours. Once you are cranking away in the flow, time passes differently. You will barely notice the time passing.

6. Prevent distractions
If you can’t keep yourself away from emails, phone calls, and the like, you won’t consistently achieve and maintain the creative flow state. You need to do whatever it takes to prevent interruptions during your creative work time. Make arrangements with whomever to ensure that you will only be interrupted with fire or blood.

I like to tidy my desk as a ritual to getting to work. I turn off the email, phone, and unnecessary computer programs.

If you have a creative job, and your boss makes it impossible to tune out distractions, this can severely hinder your earnings potential since your income is a function of your ability to produce creative value.

7. Become the master of your tools.
You must achieve a basic understanding of the tools you use in order to achieve subconscious competence and allow your creative mind to operate at the flow state.
When you are in the flow state, you won’t be thinking about which buttons to push because that will happen automatically. Your subconscious will handle all those details for you so you can stay focused on the task at hand.

After you turf out the first draft, you can go back and work out edits later. Work on the creative right-brain material first, then go back and preform a left-brain pass to make necessary adjustments and correct any problems.

Entering the creative flow state takes practice and is most certainly a skill. By putting these steps into practice, you will be able to enter and maintain the creative flow state more often and for longer periods of time.