Time is an interesting concept – involving more factors than ticking milliseconds, seconds, minutes, and hours. If you think about it, keeping time is a deeply human action; one intended to give you more control over daily and nightly events.
This is why humans continuously strive to “make the most” of their time, especially when it comes to productivity and goals. Time agility is a huge deal.
But what if you could reach your goals better without thinking about time?
Introducing the concept of flow
Ever drive somewhere and realize you reached the destination far quicker than you thought? We don’t mean going fast physically but getting into an internal “zone” such that driving becomes second nature instead of a conscious effort.
You’re in these “zones” or “flow states” more often than you realize. For example, when reading a book, you don’t notice how immersed you are in the story until you snap out of it 100 pages later. And because you didn’t tell yourself to read 100 pages, you’re surprised to have read so much in such a short time.
While in this state of flow, you were completely relaxed in your own world. Your heart rate remained constant and even. And you weren’t focused on the story’s outcome necessarily, but on the story's progression and its characters.
On the contrary, when you’re on deadline and rushing to get a task done, your body goes into a threat response of “fight, flight, freeze or fawn”. The ticking clock is louder than usual, your palms are sweaty, and you can’t seem to focus.
Although these are normal threat responses, they’re not conducive to optimal performance – because you’re not in danger, and there is no actual threat.
Optimal experiences through flow
When running a marathon, the goal is to finish or win. But imagine that there are no competitors, spectators, or prizes; would you still focus on winning, or would you be able to enjoy the experience?
The same goes for your daily life. Instead of chasing outcomes, external pressures, and expectations, you can immerse yourself in processes, internal focus areas, and being present, giving you a better experience and optimizing your performance by sheer virtue of not overthinking it.
Going into these flow states not only gives you the power to choose your internal experiences but also enables you to make better decisions and work more efficiently. The best part? Your heart isn’t racing, and the relentless tick-tock doesn’t echo in your ears. You are calm, collected, and ultra-focused.
Switching between internal and external focus
There are two primary networks in which your brain functions:
- Default Mode Network (DMN): When you’re immersed in your inner mental life, like mind-wandering, internal dialogue, self-referential thinking, etc.
- Task-Positive Network (TPN): When you’re engaged in external attention-demanding tasks, like solving problems, planning, etc.
These two networks clash and can’t operate simultaneously. So, when the DMN Network is active, the TPN Network is subdued – and vice versa.
It’s almost like practicing yoga and telling yourself to focus and maintain balance. This is counterintuitive because yoga isn’t a task-driven exercise but a practice of internal meditation. In this case, activating TPN to promote balance may do the opposite, while activating the DMN allows you to focus on an internal practice.
Your brain is as trainable as your biceps but requires different strengthening exercises. Training your brain to switch between subjectively thinking about external pressures and objectively distancing yourself from them allows you to go deeper into your internal flow without self-judgment or threat responses.
Cameron Norsworthy’s Fear or Flow: How to Create an Optimal Experience TED Talk explains that you can coach your brain to reach flow states through mindset, preparation, and immersion into a higher level of consciousness.
Curious to know more about the neurology of peak performance? Contact us for a pragmatic approach to personal and professional development and leadership. Or, want to read more first? We’ve written about time agility in detail here.
About the author
I’m Dorothée Oung, Executive Coach and Neuroleadership Expert. I work with senior leaders and executive teams to apply neuroscience in practical, results-driven ways. My goal is to guide emerging and established Neuroleaders through deliberate, evidence-based practices that elevate how they lead, think and show up in the world.
