6 Steps to Boost Your Flow State and Make You Super Focused and Productive

In today's fast-paced business world, managing oneself effectively has become a cornerstone of productivity. If you don't master yourself--your work habits, mindset, communication style, and even the activities you choose to engage in--you won't run on all cylinders.

It's all about finding smart ways to work rather than working harder and longer to perform at your best. For example, bouncing around from one useless meeting to another is certainly a threat to the sacredness of time. But there are many other threats that could steal our time and rob us of our productivity. A few examples:

As I mentioned in my introduction, while you may think that the solution is a question of "time management," what the most productive people have actually mastered is their ability to manage themselves. 

The integral work of renowned positive psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who came up with the concept and practice, suggests that we can maximize productivity while rewarding ourselves with pleasure and meaning. 

To experience true flow, Csikszentmihalyi says you need to have clear goals with a well-defined purpose that takes you to the top of the mountain. For example, when you start a new week or month, you want to experience flow to the fullest by taking these steps in pursuit of your goals:

It goes without saying that if you're at a point where you can't get tasks moving or push yourself to do more, you may want to assess your work environment, workload, or even the boss for whom you work. 

If you're in a pressure cooker at work and stressed out daily, that's going to lead to anxiety. On the flip side, if you're in a work environment where there's no challenge, and you're merely going through the motions -- clocking in, clocking out, with really no meaning behind your work -- in either case, you'll find it hard to experience flow.