Gimmick-free ways to find your ‘flow state’: Top tips from a copywriter
When it comes to any kind of creative task, entering the ‘flow state’ is always my ultimate aim. It’s when I produce my best work and find my job most satisfying. But accessing it isn’t always easy.
In this post, I’ve put together my top tips for entering the flow state based on firsthand experience as a copywriter. I’ve written these points specifically with writing in mind, but they apply to many different areas of creativity. Feel free to use them in whichever way suits you.
What is the ‘flow state’?
The flow state is a blissful state of immersion where ideas emerge effortlessly. While you could be fooled into thinking that this requires an enormous amount of brain power, entering flow has nothing to do with conscious control or deliberate effort. Instead, it occurs when activity in the brain’s superior frontal gyri (the area responsible for self-awareness and judgement) decreases.
In this free, unimpeded state, concepts enter the mind with ease, allowing you to spontaneously create without stopping.
HOW TO ENTER THE FLOW STATE
Others may have a single, tried-and-tested method for entering the flow state, but I find it requires a specific combination of things. If you’re trudging through life struggling to find your flow, try the following tips:
Make mindfulness a priority
In my experience, mindfulness and creativity go hand in hand. Mindfulness reminds you to really be here in the moment, to appreciate ‘the now’ (whatever it throws at you) and to not try to control what you can’t. This enables flow because it pulls you away from judgement and overthinking.
If you compartmentalise mindfulness or place it in a ‘wellness’ box, you break the very link that allows ideas to surface naturally, preventing the conditions needed for creativity to emerge in the first place. Ideally, mindfulness should stay with you – when you’re creating, composing an email, even when taking a shower or walking up a flight of stairs.
To practise mindfulness in daily life, try taking slow, deep breaths. Once you’ve found a natural rhythm, become aware of any physical sensations in the body or objects in the environment around you. The aim is to simply notice. Don’t judge what’s happening or worry about what needs to happen next. If done calmly and intentionally, this can clear the path for flow to take over.
2. Focus on what you know
Familiarity is a huge part of finding your flow. If you’re not a copy and content writer, avoid putting enormous pressure on yourself to write about topics you’re unfamiliar with. Instead, play to your strengths. Write about subjects you know inside out or that you have researched really well. That way, you can write freely and draw fresh conclusions confidently.
Gathering info in a Word doc and cross-referencing as you write isn’t the same. You want to fully absorb yourself in a topic so that key concepts get stored away in your brain, ready for you to reach for when you start writing.
Writing about something new? Resist the urge to rush. This will only lead to error or frustration. Try to ingrain vital concepts as best as possible (watching YouTube helps!), then make them relatable to the reader. You’ll need to take the fresh concept that you’ve learnt and let it sit until it feels like second nature.
When communicating your topic/concept, think about what would have helped you during the discovery phase. What bits became clearer after deeper research? Was there anything you initially misunderstood because explanations were too vague or information lacked balanced? These knowledge gaps can be used to fuel your explanations. They’ll help you to forget about straining for the right words and do what comes naturally.
3. Develop your human writing skills
You need to be writing regularly to increase your chances of entering the flow state. This means proactively carrying out written tasks and reducing your reliance on AI for creative ideas. If AI is part of your workflow, it’s fine to ask for the odd rephrase or make requests to help with structure, but if you habitually ask ChatGPT to write your content for you, it can act as a blocker to personal progress. Having to reprompt when something isn’t right or reword sections that aren’t up to standard takes away from free thinking and focus. So, if flow state is the aim, commit to becoming a better writer and don’t let AI de-skill you.
4. Time it right
You probably have a ‘peak productivity period’ that you can use to your advantage. For example, many people report feeling more optimistic when they rise in the morning. This can be great for getting into flow, as it makes you far less likely to judge every decision.
If you can, try to use the rest of your time for tasks that don’t require as much innovation. You might want to prioritise checking emails or conduct research that you can use later for a blog. You might find it helps to rejig your day so that you’re writing important stuff when you’re best primed for flow.
If you absolutely must get a bulky creative task done when you’re ‘not feeling it’ focus-wise, start with the easy bits and remember to adjust your expectations accordingly. Sometimes, a simple shift in expectation can have a dramatic impact on your ability to get into the zone.
5. Remove all distractions
When attempting to enter flow, removing distractions is essential. You’ll want to take yourself off into a quiet room, exit your emails, close the army of internet tabs and switch your phone to ‘do not disturb’. All that extra stimulation can pull you out of the flow state instantly.
Also, think carefully about what constitutes a distraction for you. In my experience, distraction also comes from too many unnecessary tools or options. You may have heard revered artists proclaiming that they created their most beloved piece of work with very few tools or resources – a guitarist with just an acoustic guitar, or a fine artist with only a pencil and pad. This stripped-back state tends to be how many people start out when developing their craft, and it’s often considered the period in which they create their best work. So, whether you hide your plugins, work in an offline writing app or write your first draft by hand, keep it simple and trust that creativity will come.
6. Surrender to the process
Lastly, try not to get too attached to the end result. Yes, you want it to be good, but if you’re obsessing over the outcome or fixating on past failures the moment you start, you’re putting additional pressure on yourself, and that isn’t conducive to maintaining flow.
Those niggling thoughts and fears will get in the way. They’ll keep popping into your head, and you’ll keep batting them away in frustration, not really getting an awful lot done. Instead, try bringing your attention back to mindfulness without mentally leaping forwards or backwards. Accept the uncomfortableness and take a few moments to ride it out before bringing your attention back to the task.
Ultimately, the flow state is about surrender. So if you can surrender to the process and nothing else, you’re exactly where you need to be. The joy in the work arises when you stop strangling it with expectation.
Get support
The flow state can be incredibly satisfying, but it can also feel impossible to achieve when you’re stressed, overworked or trying to do too much.
If you regularly face writer’s block or you’ve forgotten what it feels like to ‘flow’, you may well have too much on your plate. Trying to write copy alongside running your business could be kicking you out of the flow state needed to succeed at your job. That defeats the whole purpose.
Need more time to concentrate on what you do best? Get extra support with copy, content, ghostwriting or social media by reaching out to me via my contact form. I'd be happy to take some weight off.
