The Invisible Mentor Weekly Newsletter: Brain Food Wednesdays Number 79: How to Read Books While in a State of Flow

Dear Reader,

Over 15 years ago, I was working on three projects, and I felt like I was unstoppable. I successfully completed all three projects. And in fact, years later, one of the clients told me that they were still using the information that I gave them. During that time while I was working on those three projects, I was in the zone, or in a state of flow. There was only one other time, when I had that kind of optimal experience while working on projects.

Have you ever experienced flow at work?

On the other hand, I’ve had that experience, being in the flow, multiple times while reading books. The time flew by while I immersed myself in the book. How did I do it? Is there a sequence to read in flow?

In the past, getting into flow was random for me. But now I have a process to follow that will get me into flow.

In the Ask Avil section of this newsletter, I explore how to read books while in a state of flow.

Join Reading Rocks today! You’ll have access to training that I created that will make a difference in your career and business.

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How to Read Books While in a State of Flow

Being in flow is being in the zone. At a Lunchclub meeting, I met Zander Garcez and learned about his book, Humans in Flow. During the conversation he mentioned reading in flow several times. I asked him if his book covered how to read in flow.

I was excited to read Humans in Flow because I wanted to get the technique for reading in flow. The book says that the fastest way to get into flow is by reading. That wasn’t the kind of information I was after. I wanted to get into a state of flow before I started to read.

It was my thinking that if I were in flow before I started to read the book, I would be able to absorb even more of the content in the book. I was also looking for a way to improve my product once again. Humans in Flow has a process for getting into flow, however, when I read through the steps it essentially reminded me of a technique for getting creative ideas ro to creatively problem solve.

I was so disappointed. Humans in Flow has some great information, but I think the book is trying to do too much. In my conversation with Zander Garcez he said that he was going to have the book edited again to cut out over two hundred pages.

So I know you’re reading this because you want to learn how to get into flow so you can get more done. Before I give you the steps I found in another book, I’ll tell you about two apps I learned about in Humans in Flow. If you’re an Android phone user, you want to download Brain Wave Therapy by Black Coffee in the Play Store.

However, if you’re an iPhone or iPad user then you want to purchase Brainwave 35 Binaural Programs in the App Store. I have not had the opportunity to try the Android app yet. But I’ve been listening to the iPad app. I cannot offer an opinion yet since I’ve been using it for less than a week.

For those who do not want to use an app to get into the zone, here are the steps to follow. If you want to get into flow on a consistent basis, make sure that you get enough sleep, and eat less processed foods. It’s worth noting that if you want to read in flow, take an active role in reading. You need to be laser-focused and don’t multitask. The Pomodoro Technique mentioned below will help you.

Make sure you aren’t hungry.
Cut off all distractions.
1. Wear noise-cancelling headphones.
2. Have a dedicated place to read.
3. Schedule blocks of uninterrupted time to read.
4. Put the phone on airplane mode.
Use the Pomodoro technique.
Don’t multitask.
Get enough high quality sleep.

[Read: The Pomodoro Technique by Francesco Cirillo, Review]

What I’m Reading

I’ve been reading a lot of fiction. There are several series that I love and new books came out recently, so I had to read them. As I mentioned before, I read Humans in Flow by Zander Garcez and I also read Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

Humans in Flow

You’ll find a lot of great information in Humans in Flow. However, I think the book is trying to do too many things. And it has too much information I consider to be irrelevant. The one piece of information I was looking for was how to read in flow and I didn’t find what I was looking for.

Definition of Flow

“Flow is the scientific term for optimal states of consciousness where your sense of self vanishes, you merge with the activity you’re performing, time flies, and you achieve ultimate performance. It’s intrinsically connected to finding creative solutions to your challenges.”

Flow helps you to:

Improve focus.
Boost mental performance.
Achieve excellence at extreme sports.
Get inspired to make art.
Write original content.

Flow allows you to amplify your perceptions of the world, developing new superpowers. Getting into flow or the zone allows you to improve performance and produce intense feelings of joy which often leads to more significant achievements and enhanced creativity. As you schedule productive work, you might or might not achieve flow. You’ll need one or two hours of uninterrupted time to focus.

Reading in flow enables you to have clarity about the subject and things make more sense to you. You detach yourself from preconceived ideas and dive into the author’s perspective. Or view the core of the problem you’re trying to solve. You integrate the author’s thought process into yours.

Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention

Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is very academic. Years ago, I read Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by the same author and it took me about four attempts before I was able to finish reading it. These days, I preview a book first to decide which sections and chapters I need to read. That’s what I did with this book, and only read the sections of the book that made sense to me.

According to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, it’s easier to enhance creativity by changing conditions in the environment than by trying to make people think more creatively. And a genuinely creative accomplishment is almost never the result of a sudden insight, a light bulb flashing on in the dark, but comes after years of hard work.

If you want to learn anything, you must pay attention to the information to be learned. Attention is a limited resource. Learning requires attention. To achieve creativity in an existing domain, there must be a surplus of attention.

Centers of creativity tend to be at the intersection of different cultures, where beliefs, lifestyles, and knowledge mingle and allow individuals to see new combinations of ideas with greater ease.

I want to read Everything is Figureoutable, The Airbnb Story, and Hatching Twitter.

The Invisible Mentor Blog

The One Problem

I’ve mentioned The One Problem Series that I’ve been doing and it’s slowly getting traction. People are sharing the interviews on social media and some of them are now reaching out to me to interview them. I think that’s news worth sharing. The videos are short, so they’re easy enough to listen to.

Here are the Episodes that I’ve published on my blog so far. Listen to a few of them and let me know what you think.

Blog Series On Selective Reading

5 Common Reading Mistakes You Don’t Realize You’re Making

How I Came to Teach Professionals How to Read Selectively to Accelerate Their Business

5 Things You Never Knew about Reading Books

Before And After You Learn How to Read Selectively

Thinking About Investing in the Business Knowledge Accelerator Program?

Product Alert

7 Day Reading Makeover Challenge is a great product to start off with. You’ll learn how to read like a leader, as well as how to synthesize information.

7 Day Reading Makeover Challenge

Until Next Week,

Avil Beckford, Founder, The Invisible Mentor!

theinvisiblementor.com

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The Invisible Mentor Weekly Newsletter: Brain Food Wednesdays Number 79: How to Read Books While in a State of Flow

​Join Reading Rocks today! You’ll have access to training that I created that will make a difference in your career and business.

Ask Avil

​

[Read: The Pomodoro Technique by Francesco Cirillo, Review]

What I’m Reading​

Humans in Flow

“Flow is the scientific term for optimal states of consciousness where your sense of self vanishes, you merge with the activity you’re performing, time flies, and you achieve ultimate performance. It’s intrinsically connected to finding creative solutions to your challenges.”​​

Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention​