You know that feeling of being “in the flow” when you are teaching or presenting on a topic you love?
It’s that sense of relaxed ease, intensity and focus. It’s the place where you effortlessly charge the room and catalyze your students’ enthusiasm and interest.
This space of optimal concentration has been called many things, being in the zone, in the pocket, in the flow, in the sweet spot, peak state etc.
Learning to access the flow state and get in “the zone” is of prime importance to cultivating effective presentations, teaching & learning experiences and happiness.
There is significant research and science behind the importance of cultivating flow state in performance, learning and creative practice. So why is it so easy for many brilliant teachers and wellness professionals to access this state in the classroom and so challenging to find it in course creating or curriculum writing?
When you are working with clients or students, or giving a presentation, you are likely present-moment focused, engaged with your people, absorbed in the process, and speaking from a place of deep skill and knowledge cultivated over years.
When you are in the zone you have a natural sense of pacing, are able to receive immediate feedback from your students or audience, have the feeling of being intuitively guided and often your sense of time disappears as you sense yourself as part of something bigger.
So how can you access flow state in your content creation?
Well, like many things, it begins with preparation. To prepare for your best content creation process, try these foundational strategies.
- Create a container. Identify a designated time and space for your content creation. Make a date with yourself with dates/times in your calendar.
- Limit distractions. Yes, this means turn off those devices for a designated chunk of time.
- Prepare & center yourself. Preparing yourself means different things to different people. You might do yoga, go for a walk, meditate, bike, or swim. Once you have prepared your body, prepare your mind. Tune into and steady your breath. The fastest way to become mindful and present is through the breath. You probably have a process for doing this already before you teach or present, so use your strategies and prepare for your work , just as you would for a client, student or class.
Once you have created a sacred container by designating time and space for your work, you have limited distractions prepared and centered yourself, you will be ready to CREATE YOUR COURSE.
In upcoming weeks, I will talk about strategies to get in the flow with your content creation by
- Playing with Pacing
- Skillfully Strategizing Support
- Making time for Mindfulness
- Regulating Choices