As a reminder: Flow states have triggers we can use to make it more likely we drop into flow when desired!  Links below to the ones we’ve already covered!

Complete concentration is a classic method of reducing cognitive load.

I access this trigger most powerfully when mountain biking.  If I ever start to feel my mind wander, or sometimes as I begin a descent, I simply repeat a mantra in my mind: “flow follows focus.”  It’s been an extremely powerful tool to corral my cognitive resources to the task at hand – I find it causes me to look down the trail and remove the hyper focus on the section just in front of my front wheel.

Probably my biggest “win” in the “flow follows focus” mantra was at Alyeska – I get stories of injury, etc. in my head and find it really affects my riding – huge cognitive load increase!  So, one particular day when this happened, I used my mantra in force and I ended up having huge gains as I noticed the impact it had on where/how I was scanning the trail.  I naturally started looking ahead, which totally smoothed out my corners and increased my riding speed and fluidity . . . and I had more fun!  This shift was all timed with finally deciding to try my first downhill race and doing the vertical challenge the next day, both of which I ended up winning in the women’s group!

As it turns out, we experience flow most commonly at work.  Complete concentration is an extremely powerful trigger in this context.  You can create what’s known as the “flow block” – carve out 90 minutes of time to focus on the task at hand.  Eliminate distractions, hide your phone, set clear goals for what you’ll achieve in this block, and let it flow!