Increasing your productivity can be a never-ending struggle, regardless of whether you do your work in an office or as a freelancer from the comfort of your own home. However, if you aren’t getting things done as quickly as you would like and your coworkers appear to be more productive than you, there may be something standing in the way of you accomplishing your objectives. How exactly does one get into the flow of things?

People have the tendency to view life as having two distinct phases: flow and non-flow, which correspond to what I refer to as being in the zone and not being in the zone, respectively.

Everything else fades away as we go about whatever it is that we’re doing, whether it’s writing code, coaching softball, or playing the violin. You feel completely alive and at one with the world around you. This state of being, known as ‘flow’ is something that all of us are familiar with. It occurs when we are completely immersed in an activity that holds our complete attention.