How to fight your way into deep focus and flow (Reframing Strain)

There's one thing we all face when starting a session of focused, “deep” work: a feeling of strain. If you want to get better at focusing deeply, understanding and dealing with this feeling is vital.

What to do

When you’re struggling to focus on a challenging task, reframe the strain you feel as a sign that your brain is getting ready for deep focus and flow. Then, instead of quitting or distracting yourself, commit to fighting these urges for 10-15 minutes.

Why it works

Although your brain makes up less than 2% of your body, it consumes 25% of its energy. Saving energy helped our ancestors survive in their Paleolithic world of scarcity. As a result, our brains have inherited the tendency to strive for energy efficiency whenever feasible. 

Focusing deeply on a challenging task uses up a lot of energy. According to flow expert Steven Kotler, our brain then starts a dialogue with us: “Hey, this thing you’re doing, it’s a lot harder than you expected. Do you want to expend a ton of energy and fight back, or do you want to back off and look for other options?” We experience this as a feeling of strain (aka stress), and we then have two options: We can fight our urges to quit or distract ourselves — or we can flee by giving in to them. 

According to research by Stanford neuroscientist Andrew Huberman, the “fight-or-flight” reaction includes two distinct responses. As Huberman has shown in additional research with Kotler, choosing the fight response is the precondition for getting into deep focus and flow. Kotler summarizes these findings as follows: “You need to trigger that fight response to enter flow, so move into attack mode. Expend the effort. Push through the brain’s desire to conserve energy.”

How to do it

As you start working on a challenging task, remember that it always begins with struggling towards focus. In this first phase, which takes 10-15 minutes, focusing naturally feels stressful, and you’ll feel the urge to quit or distract yourself. When this happens, that’s your moment of truth. Commit to “fight” instead of “flight” — and keep two things top of mind.

First, remember that the feeling of strain indicates you’re getting ready for deep focus and flow. When your energy-saving brain suggests that you flee, remind yourself that you’re standing at a fork on your path to deep focus, where you can choose between fight and flight. Then, choose wisely. As per Kotler, tell yourself: “Hell yes, I’ll fight. This is where I make my stand!” 

Second, remember that when trying to do something challenging, our emotions often mean the opposite of what we think they mean. When in struggle, frustration is a pointer that we’re on to something: “For most people, frustration is a sign that they’re moving in the wrong direction”, Kotler writes: “But in struggle, frustration is a sign that you’re moving in the right direction. This way lies flow. Keep going”. 

By reframing the strain as a sign of being at a fork on your path to deep focus, and the accompanying frustration as a pointer to the right direction, you’ll get into the flow state — if you fight for 10-15 minutes.

According to research by McKinsey & Company, being in this state increases your productivity by 500%. So how about trying this reframing technique tomorrow morning? 

And if you can think of one person who could benefit from doing the same, please share this post with them.

Until next week,
Christian

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