Creating Personal Flow

Shutdown ritual

Rafal Moryson — Tue, 21 May 2013 19:43:40 +0000

A daily shutdown ritual which helps close of the day, review the events and actions and get ready for the next day.

Drastically Reduce Stress with a Work Shutdown Ritual

SANG Conference Interview with David Allen

Rafal Moryson — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:30:00 +0000

Continuing from my Mondays's post I'm in the GTD refresh mode. Coincidentally GTD time has put up an interview with David Allen from SANG Conference in 2012.

It's very informal and easy going conversation about the GTD, it's impact and some practical tips for implementation and keeping things current.

The interview is an hour long but well worth the time.

Doing Research with Evernote

Rafal Moryson — Wed, 15 May 2013 13:30:00 +0000

Evernote is the primary tool which I use to keep my research materials, scraps of ideas and other notes. This post will discuss a three step process of researching any topic and how Evernote can help it make it more effective.

TOOLS I USE

Evernote Corporation created a number of products/applications which are key elements of my research process and come handy at different stages. It's a very neat power pack allowing you to gather and process different types of media and information.

Evernote desktop client

WebClipper - browser extension

Clearly - browser extension

Skitch - desktop client

THE PROCESS

The process I follow is very simple but having it clarified made it much easier for focus on the specific stages rather than jump back and forth.

1) Find a topic

2) Collect

3) Process

4) Organise

Find a research topic

Ideas come and go. They are spurred by events, things we see, read etc. Yet what often happens, when we seek something todo all of a sudden there are no ideas available. Whenever an idea strikes, I make the point of capturing it and sending it to Evernote. If for example, I have an idea for a new blog post I put "PostIdea" in the title, if it's a different type I type "IdeaPad". Then I rely on saved search to bring up either in a single list of notes which I can review. Once a topic is selected I move to next phase.

Collect the information

Depending on a topic there maybe a multitude of sources of information relevant to what I'm researching. If it's on the web I use a combination of Google and Duckduckgo to search through it. Anything that looks interesting whether it's a quote, a whole article, image or PDF document gets saved into Evernote through use of WebClipper. Sometimes I'm not sure if I whole article is worth capturing and in such case I would bookmark it into Pinboard and then during processing decide if it's worth keeping.

If I have other sources of information like email exchanges I can forward them straight into Evernote using my special email address. To see your individual address check your accounts settings.

For documents and files I rely on very neat feature called Folder Pickup. All I need to do is save files into the predefined location, wait couple seconds and check Evernote client. You can check the details of the folder location and the import settings under Tools>Import within desktop client.

Images are either taken straight from the web or through screenshots of pages that I specifically need. All it takes is to press "Win+PrtScr" and select the area to capture. Skitch comes handy for this too but I use it more for processing information.

Process

Once I'm happy with the volume of the information that I have it's time to look through it in more detail and what's worth. This allows me to understand what I have, figure out key concepts, note most important points and potentially discover new areas to look at.

When it comes to reading and extracting useful points the most effective tool for that is Clearly. Not only it removes all the unnecessary webpage elements leaving only the main content. It also overlays the page with plain background making the article easier to read. Clearly allows for highlight text you find interesting and send the whole article and highlight into your Evernote account.

Copy and paste is a handy way to gather the material but to better understand the concepts and retain information for longer it's good to type your own reading notes. If I'm doing that I have one a note in a separate window and the switch between the material I'm reading and the note's window. Once I'm done I makes sure I have the link to original content saved in the link field of the note. This way I can always refer to it when necessary or at least know where it was published.

What I would sometimes do is simply to grab a bunch of quotes from a single article and let Evernote create a series of notes which I then merge into one. It's neat approach if you want to grab a large number of items without worrying about manual processing of them.

If I've captured any images or graphics that I want to analyse and review I use Skitch. This app has only a handful of features but they are very well designed and thought out. I can Annotate an image with highlights, text and arrows it's very easy and effective. Since Skitch and Evernote desktop client are well integrated all it take is a single click of a mouse to move between the two. See a sample below.

Organise

Last but not least is organising stage of notes. Although Evernote has excellent search capabilities I personally still prefer to organise information in some form. Evernote allows for assigning tags to notes or creating specific notebooks which are note containers. From what I've seen the decision on the approach is very personal matter as some prefer the flexibility of tags, were others like the silo structure of a notebook. I happen to rely on both and use notebooks to store all the notes related to a particular project and then assign tags as way of indicating their status or specific theme they belong to. Once the project is closed, depending on the number of notes that I've created I would simply merge them on to one. Alternatively as I prefer to keep the folder structure light I would assign a specific tag to all notes related to particular project and then move them into a project archive folder.

This is how I manage research using various tools provided by Evernote. Do you have a process for managing your research? Do you have any tips for making it better? Please share in the comments section.

Best practices for GTD 5 stage workflow

Rafal Moryson — Mon, 13 May 2013 13:30:00 +0000

Over the last weekend I've spend some time refreshing my GTD(r) system as it got stale.

My lists were out of date, next actions weren't next action but rather undefined todo items. Project list was in bad condition too.

Oddly enough the only list that was in relatively good shape was my Waiting For list. This is probably because I have more interest in making sure I get the things I'm waiting for.

Before I began the whole thing I was looking for some nice way to get the GTD principles refreshed in my mind and also some quick tactical tips to get me going.

GTD times site was a perfect resource for that. Back in 2011 they have published a whole series about the best practices of GTD workflow.

GTD Best Practices: Collect (Part 1 of 5) | GTD Times

GTD Best Practices: Process (Part 2 of 5) | GTD Times

GTD Best Practices: Organize (Part 3 of 5) | GTD Times

GTD Best Practices: Review (part 4 of 5) | GTD Times

GTD Best Practices: Do (Part 5 of 5) | GTD Times

If you're stuck in a rut or need quick rundown of main principles and the flow this is fantastic way to get you going.

On importance of workflow

Rafal Moryson — Fri, 10 May 2013 13:30:00 +0000

Excellent essay about workflow, quality and process by Rundy Murray:

"Workflow and process are a very important part of what I do. It’s how I create high quality work for my clients and I make it a part my sales pitch."

No post for today

Rafal Moryson — Wed, 08 May 2013 13:30:00 +0000

Unfortunately there will be no post for today. As it happens the article I was working on about Evernote did not turn out as I expected.

Basically after re-reading it I decided the quality wasn't there and I need to re-write it from scratch.

I'm posting this little bit on the spur of a moment after listening to Enough podcast episode 199 and reading Mike Hurley's article.

As result I'm scrapping today's post and working on making it better.

Easy way to follow up on email

Rafal Moryson — Mon, 06 May 2013 13:30:30 +0000

For many email is a productivity killer. Constant inflow of data is more of a distraction rather than productivity enabler. Yet at the same time email is the primary tool for communication, exchange of ideas and collaboration.

Jason Womack, a productivity and performance speaker and consultant, in his recent post for the Entrepreneur shares some of his favorite three tips in which you can improve your email management.

One that specifically struck with me is to bcc: yourself on an email that you need to follow up on and flag or move such email into a follow up folder so. This is an excellent way of making sure you have quick access to the items you need to keep and eye on.

To automate this process even further you can cc: your self not could set up a set of rules in your email client which would recognize that you bcc: yourself and would automatically tag or move messages into the right folder.

As in my day job more and more of my work is tied to email this will be an excellent solution which will simplify tracking of follow up items.

Be sure to check the other two tips as they are very handy too.

How to Transform Your Email into a Productivity Tool

Update 07 May 2013 - while working on setting up my rule to take advantage of this follow up method I realised that I can't use the bcc: field when sending emails (bcc: means the recipients are hidden).
If you want to automate filing and still use above method include your email address in the cc: field. Then set up a rule to flag or categorise items for follow up when you're the sender and your email is in the cc: field.

I tested this today and work flawlessly in Outlook.

Merlin follows up on Inbox Zero

Rafal Moryson — Fri, 03 May 2013 13:30:00 +0000

Merlin Mann back in the days of 43folders.com coined a phrase Inbox Zero to address the topic of email management.

Over the last number of years the term grew in popularity and became part of the common language. Unfortunately as result of it's popularity the meaning and purpose behind the Inbox Zero has been twisted to the point of ridicule i.e. your mailbox must be at zero. So just the other day after a great interview with Mike Hurley over at the CMD+Space podcast Merlin wrote a great follow up the Inbox Zero.

Let me share some of the key quotes from Chasing the right zero:

Given that every inbox necessarily represents a source of incompletion in our lives, any potential source of new input that we invite (or even permit) into our world presents a never-ending challenge that we may choose to frequently address, but which we must accept we can never even begin to control.

Inbox Zero is merely a philosophical practice of learning to be parsimonious about which and how many inputs we allow into into our lives—and, then, to responsibly but mindfully tend to those inputs in a way that is never allowed to hinder our personal commitment to doing the work that really matters to us.

Once you’ve dedicated yourself to making the things you love, every inbox can and should become a well-monitored servant rather than a merciless master.

Now it's time for you to think how you manage your inboxes and which zeros are you chasing.

Staying productive with Chrome

Rafal Moryson — Wed, 01 May 2013 13:30:00 +0000

Although Chrome browser has been around for couple year I'm relatively new user. Before my browser of choice was Firefox which I switched away from mainly due to performance issues.

Besides being a straight up browser Chrome is also an ecosystem of extensions and applications which can run inside it. Most are designed to run online but many can store the information locally and run offline. This means that if you don't require powerful applications you could completely live and work in Chrome. Jeff Jarvis, one of the hosts of This Week in Google podcast is experimenting with doing all his work on Chromebook which effectively is a netbook computer with only Chrome on it.

If you like to keep things simple, remain productive with your job and don't mind relying on the cloud you might consider Chrome as your productivity platform.

Since I've been relying on Chrome more and more I would like to share some of the extensions and applications I've used to keep things productive and effective. I've divided them in to couple categories each with few suggestions to look at:

Email & Calendar

Gmail - you may like it or not but Google offers almost unparalleled access to solid email solution that works everywhere and the offline Gmail solves any problems with lack of connectivity. Google Calendar - I'm yet to find anything better than this. Whether it's for personal or business user Google Calendar offers wealth of features, multiple points of access, sharing and more.

Calendar reminder - once you're logged into your Google account this extension will show time to your next event and give you a reminder once it's time.

Reference Material

Evernote - in short it aims to be your external brain. You can store text, images, audio, pdfs, clippings etc. It's one of the more popular and feature rich applications that will help you store your ideas, plans, projects and reference materials. Work both in the browser as well as through native clients. Don't forget about related neat extensions from Evernote Corp. The only down side is that their web version does not work offline yet.

Springpad - Evernote's competitor, has very similar feature set and in some respects exceeds the Evernote, it runs on the web and mobile only.

Pinboard - a web based bookmarking service. It has simple visuals but it's a powerful tool for managing pages you want to keep for later. Although I do use Chrome's build in bookmarks Pinboard is my default long term storage solution. Pinboard Keyboard - is a small extension which adds keyboard shortcuts to Pinboard allowing you to manage your bookmarks without a mouse. Great time saver.

Todo

There is a plethora of applications for managing your todo list and you need to choose one that fits your needs. I won't go into detail of each but simply mention couple of them which are worth having a look and these include: Remember the Milk, Wunderlist,Astrid, Any.do, Todoist, Google Tasks

You need to find something that works the way you work and helps you get things done. If by any chance you decide on Remember the Milk you can find some resources on my site.

Writing & Ideas

It used to be that for writing you needed a powerful word processor with hundred of options and functions. Over the last year I've learned that's not the case. A simple text editor or note taking application will be as effective if not more. The bigger programs still have their place but they are no longer a primary tool. For this category the choice is vast starting with already mentioned Evernote through other tools like Google Drive, Zoho, Markdown and Plain text editors

If you want to move a level up and start with an idea for a project or a document Chrome has you covered too. There is a number of solutions to manage this stage of creative process. Couple examples worth looking at include Mindmeister, Mindomo, Mindjet,MindMapr

Since we are on the topic of writing here is a list of notepad apps you can test in Chrome from simple plain text editor to media rich scrapbook replacements.

Reading

Chrome offers a number of apps and extensions which can facilitate help you with staying on top of your reading stacks.

Feedly is my RSS reader of choice ever since Google announced the end of Reader. Still adjusting to it but it's going well. Very often you come across articles that you want to come back to later. For that I recommend Pocket or Instapaper which unfortunately does not have native Chrome app. However if you decide to go with it I recommend using InstapaperBeyond which lets us do all the actions with one key stroke

Time and task tracking

A side from keeping tabs on your tasks you may take the advantage of other tools which can help you with maintaining a better focus and accountability. One of more popular techniques of instigating focus is working applying a Pomodoro technique.

Remember when you're comparing different apps and solutions whenever you see the small lighting icon this means the app will run offline.

There are thousands more of different apps and extensions making Chrome a really compelling solution for a simple, web based productivity.

All new Remember the Milk

Rafal Moryson — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:30:00 +0000

Last week my favorite task manager seen a really big update. New smartphone and tablet versions have been released for the Android platform.

This is very welcomed update as although I grew accustomed to the previews look of the app on my phone the tablet version was really non-existent.

The update is a complete re-design of android clients and after couple days I really like it. It added a vertical bar to the left side of the screen which gives very quick and easy access to lists, tags, due dates. The lists of with tasks now slide from the right showing all relevant elements.

Viewing and editing of task notes has been improved which makes it easier to take the advantage of this rarely used feature.

By default task show up with out check mark and once you press edit in the top right corner you can check off more than one task. I haven't decided whether it's good or bad as on one hand it's forces you to select one task and focus on it but on the other hand you need extra taps to manipulate it.

Overall I really, really like this new version and big thumbs up for creating tablet version too. I'm yet to do it but I can already see that doing weekly reviews on a tablet will be very pleasant and effective experience.

You can check the details of this update on the Remember the Milk blog site.

The updated version is now available on Google Play store too.

Last but not least Google+ has a great number of commentators chipping in with their opinions on this update. It's well worth checking it out and what users have to say.

Share Your feedback

Rafal Moryson — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 13:22:00 +0000

I've been running this blog for a while and I would like to hear from you what do you think about the site.

More importantly I would like to hear from you, about the topics areas that I should cover. I absolutely enjoy reading about productivity, tools and techniques so learning about these things and sharing my observations is a real pleasure for me.

Let me save you the time and do the work for you. Let me know what you want to know and I will dive deep and share the best things I can find.

Thanks for taking the time.

What's next?

Rafal Moryson — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 13:30:00 +0000

Generally it isn't a problem to find something to do, there are hundreds of different things that grab our attention. The problem is with deciding what' is the right next thing.

Chris Guillebeau, writer, traveler and man behind the Art of Non conformity and World Domination Summit has as great post on this very topic. To him knowing "what's the rightnext" is like having a superpower. Unfortunately there is no magic potion or pill which you could take to gain this superpower, instead you can try few things that may help:

- write things down
- work from a list
- know your distractions
- pay attention to your feelings

Superpowers, Part II

The art of note-taking

Rafal Moryson — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 13:30:00 +0000

The advent of digital tools allows us to capture more and more information usin not only text but images and audio. The the skill is not just in the act of capturing. That is important but what's more important is what do you do with those notes, how you organise them, review and most importantly how do they help you with your work.

In the last couple of weeks I came across two excellent pieces of content that touched on this very topic. If you want to elevate you note-taking skills or seek for some tips I can recommend that you follow the two links below:

How to Become a Masterful Note-Taker: 8 Lessons From Research

#047: The Lost Art of Note-Taking [Podcast][michaelhyatt.com]

Contexts.Granularity vs usefulness.

Rafal Moryson — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:30:00 +0000

Contexts are great way to break down work into different chunks based on specific criteria. Rather than keep looking at a long list of things todo you split them based on location, type of work, tool, mood, time estimate etc. Anything that can assist you in breaking down your work and organising it into more meaningful chunks can be used as context.

The key benefit of using contexts is in grouping similar tasks together which allows you to take the advantage of the location you're in, tools you have and the energy available. Also working in contexts reduces the waste normally related with continuous switching between different tasks.

When setting up contexts there is a great sense clarity and purpose. Thing are nicely stacked in piles but the true test comes when you're doing the work. Can you successfully maintain system in such great detail. Do it make sense to have a context @printer or @shed or @shopXYZ if you don't really print and visit shop XYZ once a year usually with specific purpose?

You can go very deep with contexts, breaking things down into very small categories. Although this may seem like excellent idea it may be a way of hiding tasks out of the view. This way the granularity can hinder the work you need to do.

So how can you maintain the usefulness of contexts and not get bogged down in the minute detail of managing too many of them?

match them to your work - this is key, context should be aligned with your work, think of the places, and tools specific to your line of work and design context around them.
keep them at bay - don't allow to grow them beyond being manageable. Can you manage 6-7 contexts, can you manage 15? Avoid keeping context with 2-3 items in them as you will lose sight of them quickly.
have easy access to them - make sure you can access all of you contexts. Regardless of the system you use to keep your list handy so that you can take the advantage of the different places and tools and the are available. Do lose the time simply because you don't have the right list.
review regularly - do a regular assessment of contexts you use, see if they have the right tasks, do they still match to your line of work, are the locations right, are tool still relevant.

Doing these small tasks and asking these simple questions will help you maintain a nicely tailored suite of context that keep you covered at work and home.

How many contexts do you have, do you manage them in any way? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Speeding up your digital notetaking

Rafal Moryson — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:37:00 +0000

Digital tools for storing information like Evernte,Onenote, Sprigpad or many manay more are great for collecting the information. Everything gets stored in one place and can be easily searched and accessed. But with a move to a digital realm the biggest inhibitor or obstacle for using it efficiently is a keyboard. If you think faster than your type any digital tool no matter how smart will frustrate you and you might be better of with pen and paper.

To me there three ways in which you can improve the situation.

type faster
use keyboard shortcuts
use text expansion software.

I recently came across an excellent post which made superb example of point no 3. It outlined how can you improve note taking by combining Evenote and TextExpander. In short, you can use TextExpander (or PhraseExpress) to turn any form of note-taking that you do on regular basis into a template which you can reuse time and again. When attending a meeting all you need to do to start taking notes is open a new note in Evernote and type the TextExpander key configuration to bring up the template.

I've been using text expansion on Windows (PhraseExpress) for few months now and it's absolutely fantastic way to save time, automate inputs and leverage templates regardless of the application you're in.

You can read further on this topic over at jamierubin.net:
Going Paperless: Evernote + TextExpander = Productivity

Study Hacks - tackling big projects and creating work

Rafal Moryson — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 20:40:37 +0000

I've been subscribing to Study Hacks blog for couple months now and over the last few weeks I've noticed an interesting trend there. Basically Cal Newport has been focusing on very interesting aspect of creating work, making progress on big projects and tackling huge assignments. What's different on this blog is that it does not focus on tips and simple techniques. Post are more centered on pondering about the different approaches to work, looking at interesting research and conversations with people all that seem to go against conventional wisdom or so it would appear.

I won't go into summarizing all of those posts but I would really encourage you to have a look at them and spend some time thinking about the lessons that Cal shares.

Study Hacks » Blog Archive » How to Write Six Important Papers a Year without Breaking a Sweat: The Deep Immersion Approach to Deep Work

Study Hacks » Blog Archive » You Need to Master the Rules Before You Can Reinvent Them

Study Hacks » Blog Archive » The Single Number that Best Predicts Professor Tenure: A Case Study in Quantitative Career Planning

Study Hacks » Blog Archive » “Write Every Day” is Bad Advice: Hacking the Psychology of Big Projects

Support your productivity

Rafal Moryson — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 13:30:00 +0000

Productive isn't just a simple adjective describing a person.
To me productive means delivering results from a set of behaviors and use of the right tools.
There is no silver bullet here. You can't simply pick up one or two tips from a popular blog and expect that they will change your life. Sure they can give you a necessary boost of energy but they will quickly wear off.

What you need is to develop right behaviors that support your productivity. What are they?:

capture ideas
keep a single task list
avoid distractions
focus on one thing
avoid multitasking
ask what's the outcome and what's the next action
plan
banish procrastination

There are many more practices and small routines what will improve your productivity. For the moment start with the above and see where they fall short. Only seek more solutions when you need them.

Then are the tools. The better they fit you and your job the more you will achieve. Starting with pen and paper is the simplest route you can take. There are other options available too for your laptop, tablet or smartphone. It's easy to get distracted by all the bells and whistles but keep it to the point. If your main job is to do email, then find best program for it and learn all its tricks. Repeat that for any other application that you need.

The last thing is to continuously strive to improve. Big jumps are effective but in a race between tortoise and hare it was a slow but consistently moving tortoise who won it. Keep your pace and move along, the stronger foundation you will build the bigger and better effects you will see.

Managing distractions

Rafal Moryson — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 13:30:00 +0000

Distractions in our environment are the major killer to our productivity.

Listen to some ideas by Jason Womack on how to enhance your focus and reduce the distractions. Here are some starting points:

learn to use your tools
create focus times using calendar and timers
use agendas to capture discussion points for other people.

Quarter end - time for a goal review

Rafal Moryson — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 14:30:00 +0000

We are almost done with quarter on of 2013 it's a good time to look back at the past three months and take a stock of what was accomplished, which goals are really coming to fruition and which were just a wishful thinking.

There is an excellent post over at Copyblogger which touches precisely on that point. To make progress on the projects, ideas, goals which you set for yourself they need to be reviewed and assessed on regular basis and end of quarter makes a perfect time for that. There are four elements which can help you make this review process:

Thinking space to look at the plans and reality.
Check the basics - see where you are at the moment
Look back - review your goals, have things changed, are they still valid
Look forward - define where to go, identify new projects, set the action steps

Beware the Ideas of March

Flow

Rafal Moryson — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 14:30:00 +0000

Flow

Since moving to a new domain a blog post about a flow was an overdue task. I've asked my wife Magdalena who normally writes about spirituality to share her thoughts on this very subject.

Hi All! It’s a great honour and pleasure to be guest starring on Rafal’s blog. It’s a challenge too as I normally address different readers. I would like to offer you a much different approach to life and productivity as a part of it. Rafal asked me to write about flow, my understanding of it anyway. Before I get into that, let me just lay a foundation for you. The premise of my philosophy is this: you are not a body who has a soul; you are a soul who chose to have this physical experience in a body.

You are an energy being and part of you vibrates on a much slower rate (that is your physical self). Everything that happens to you is a match to your vibrations. Your thoughts, words, feelings and actions are vibrations too and they very much add on to this vast vortex of energy that is your being. I hope you’re still with me.

So… what is flow in that case?

Flow is your natural state. It simply means you are in alignment with the vaster part of you – your soul. When you experience flow your body is relaxed, you breathe deeply, your mind is clear and you feel calm. All ’positive’ emotions which show up in this state are just indicating that you are still in alignment with your essence. Flow fundamentally is the absence of resistance. When resistance to what is shows up the flow ceases as your body and mind contract, tense up and you experience ’negative’ emotions. Note: emotions are like sign posts letting you know if you are in alignment (positive ones) or out of it (negative ones).

Back to earth…

I’m sure all of you experienced this state when you felt really well, alive and in the zone when working on something exciting or maybe while hiking or running. In that time you are fully focused and immersed in what you’re engaging with. There are no doubts, fears and not a shred of tension in your body. You felt vibrant, joyful and often elated by the experience.

The characteristics of the flow are openness and balance. Imagine that the flow is a stream of water, and you are on the boat floating in that water. If there’s flow you go downstream, there are no obstacles on your path (there’s no resistance) and your boat is in balance (not rocking). You are moving quite fast! It feels good too!

Now, let’s translate that into real life: openness means accepting what is and engaging with it happily. Balance means just the right amount of time spending visualizing/day dreaming/planning/tapping into the bigger picture and taking action. If you ever saw ying/yang symbol – it is exactly that - perfect balance.

When you’re engaged with a new exciting project you don’t object it – you love it you want to do it (openness) and you have spent time thinking about it and picturing it in your mind’s eye. When you have the clarity of what the broader picture is and how to make it happen, you get into action. You are also clear and sure of your steps. It is therefore easy and enjoyable to get to the desired outcome and you get there in nearly no time - the magic of the flow. There’s one more crucial component of the flow: it is trust. You need to trust yourself (trust that our ideas are fabulous) and trust life that indeed your project is going to be successful.

We all would ideally like to experience flow (or in my world – alignment) more often if not all the time. I’m pretty sure it doesn't happen that often to you, huh? Don’t worry, there’s a way to practice the alignment/flow and be more in that fantastic state. How? By creating the right conditions for it… yes, you can create the flow it doesn't happen only by fluke!

I suggest start with something that helps you calm your mind (meditation works for me), the body will follow in feeling relaxed; emotions will be very calm. And you’ll find yourself in the state of openness! Boom first condition! Also make peace with & accept what is – wherever you are in your life is perfect. You are just learning something important (everything that happens to you is a blessing – sometimes it’s in disguise). Boom more openness!

Thank for what is (even if you don’t like it), appreciate how great it is to be alive, to be you, to do and have all those things that work in your life.

Spend time connecting to the grand vision of your life or just a project… get clear on what you want and then visualize that as if it was already your reality (really picture it in full colour, feel how great it is… make the picture bigger and brighter). Then take action on it. Boom – condition two of the flow (balance).

Finally chose to trust, I know I know… easier said than done, but hey, trust is a choice. You can choose to trust yourself & life. If you feel resistance to that one (you know, the opposite of the flow), you might want to address your beliefs about life.

Now, you are experiencing the flow! Well done!

There’s a hack to flow… I’ll give you this hack… what the heck…

You consciously chose to feel good (vibrate high frequencies= being more of your vaster self= being in the flow).

If you feel crap just honour that feeling (by feeling it without the story attached to it, the feeling will pass in a matter of seconds) and when you’re ready move on, do something that would cheer you up (dancing and goofing around works for me). When you feel better, keep moving upwards and chose to feel even better than that.
You want to aim for LOVE, GRATITUDE, JOY and EMPOWERMENT. These feelings are the ultimate flow. Then you’re flowing and you’re flying and it feels amazing!

See you there, flying up in the sky!

With love & sparkly hugs