Flow is when you are completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you’re using your skills to the utmost.” ~Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

My ritual is to “Pose, Release, Attack”

• Pose : In the evening, I will write down either series of questions or next steps on a project. Josh Witzkin calls this MiQ or “most important question”. These can be about work , projects, personal issues. They can be strategic or tactical.
• Release : I then release. I read a book by the fire, have a hot shower or meditate. Important to not stress about the questions. You need to trust your brain will solve . Risk of course is you lie awake tossing and turning, starting to try and solve the MiQ. Get up again , jot down your notes but practice the release.
• Attack: The next morning, wake up early . I sometimes do 4:30am or 5:30am. Do not look at your phone , do not check emails, do not watch news or read paper or look at Twitter. Get no new data or inputs. You must sit straight down and “attack” the MiQ. Your subconscious has been mulling over the problems in your sleep , particularly in the period just before you are fully awake, called lucid dreaming. I now wake up most days with my “hair on fire”, mind is firing, actively brain storming and solving the issues I posed the night before.

The results can be breath taking. Without distraction , without being reactive, your brain is freed to tackle the toughest problems.

– Nick Humphrey Lawyer, Author