0:00 what if Neuroscience shows us how to design our workspace our office such that it forces us into deep states of focus and flow what if you could enter a state of flawless productivity and focus just by changing where you work I'm ran Daris co-founder and CEO of flow research Collective along with my partner Stephen Cutler we've taught thousands of professionals how to access states of flow at will Charles Darwin William Shakespeare Bill Gates Emily Dickinson Thomas Edison what did all of these profoundly affect and successful people have in common they all had a place a specific location in time and space from which they change the world and the nature of that place affected the degree of change they were able to make from Edison's laboratory in Meno Park to Darwin's family downhouse
0:46 in Kent these creators had a workspace in which they lost themselves in states of flow and Peak Performance one idea leading to the next in an effortless freefall of creative Association and pattern recognition blending with their environments as they brought to life their respective contributions to humanity like these Titans of Industry the time you spend working in a flow state is likely to be some of the most important time in your entire life where you produce your most important and impactful work flow and Elite levels of productivity can either be Amplified or hindered by where we work the trouble is the average knowledge worker hasn't intentionally designed their workspace for flow they tend to fall into one of three caps so which of these sounds most
1:32 like yourself number one there's the overwhelmed office worker you work in an office plan plagued by constant distractions between tap on the shoulder meetings and chatter you can't focus for more than 11 minutes at a time you dream of a private office but feel powerless to be able to change your environment then second we've got the uninspired homeworker you know how this is yesterday's dirty mugs still clutter your makeshift desk maybe work on the couch hunch over so the ergonomics are terrible the cluttered space is associated more with distraction than with meaningful work you know you could have a lovely office but you kind of lack the clarity on how to set it up or the motivation or diligence to keep it set up finally there's the rare but realized the workspace Olympian the
2:19 workspace Olympian Engineers their workspace for flawless focus and productivity it's treated as a sacred and cherished space so all sources of distraction are banned and everything is set up up for complete immersion in Flow State and accelerated progress the workspace Olympian understands their environment must facilitate Focus before Focus can facilitate greatness whichever Camp you fall into it's only after you optimize your workspace that you realize the massive difference it makes for your focus your productivity and your access to Flow State at Jimmy wheel the co-author of stealing fire coined the term flow Dojo which refers to a space that's solely dedicated to activating flow states with Max maximum reliability I once rented an oppressively Bleak
3:04 office space it was the 50th floor on a drab Mexico City high-rise when I was living down there frigid temperatures harsh fluorescent mental Asylum lighting plus a tedious commute up the stairs and the elevators the musty carpet and sterile drywall sapped my motivation I could barely stand to be there then I moved into this gorgeous office space called Hab with with floor toeing Windows overlooking the treelined Amsterdam Avenue in Mexico City there were soft natural lightings Lively colors and textures and on my way to my desk each morning I'd grab mouthwatering coffee and lovely food eggs and avocado from their Cafe just getting my brain alert and happy before sitting down and
3:51 I ended up spending more than three times the amount of time working at Hab in comparison to that previous office space in the skyscraper and I accomplished way more in those hours too I was happier more immersed and absorbed in my work and able to access flow more reliably the point being never underestimate a workspace is magnetic pull a depressing space repels you an incredible environment draws you to stay longer achieve more in each session and return eagerly and this translates to increased flow and boosted performance for example let's say you're a writer say you typically write for 3 hours a day averaging nine new pages per day if making your workspace more alluring inspires you to spend just 10% more time
4:37 in it that extra 18 minutes daily will translate into 216 additional Pages written for the year and this adds up invisibly all because you enjoy working in that perfectly designed flow Dojo so much that it Lowes you in and keeps you there but there's more your flow Dojo is more alluring yes but you also get get into flow more easily when you're in it if it's set up optimally even a conservative 10% increase in productivity much lower than certain research shows we get when we're in flow States would yield another 576 additional Pages written annually so if you combine 10% more time in your flow Dojo with 10% increased productivity from being in flow more in
5:24 a better flow Dojo you'd end up in this example as a writer creating an extra set 792 Pages annually the equivalent of a magnum opus all because you turned your workspace into a flow Dojo so don't underestimate how important it is that your workspace pulls you in keeps you there and plunges you into flow to create a flow Dojo design an environment that will maximize your output when you're at your best and protect your lesser self from sabotaging your work during the design process you want to tap into your prefrontal cortex your executive function approaching the design process while while well rested possibly lightly caffeinated and in control over more impulsive parts of your mind in this optimal State we want to architect conditions for our future
6:09 selves that Friday night version of you that's exhausted from the work week with your lyic system hijacked and your physiology Running on Fumes you know the Sleepy monkey mind self that badly doesn't want to push through to finish necessary tasks even though you know you should when willpower Flags your environment determines Behavior so design for that version of you the one that need needs workspace conditions that spark motivation attention and flow regardless of how burnt out you feel in the moment use your optimized Puppet Master self to create a space your depleted self can't help but flourish within all of this starts with answering the question what are the core elements of a flow dojo and how do you set one up when it comes to your workspace you want to upgrade it based on science and biological mechanisms not productivity hacks or gimmicks so let's look at the
6:55 neuroscience and biology behind the best flow dojos in the world world so you can practically Implement these tools and replicate it for yourself the first principle is suppression is an active process you see flow follows focus when we Channel our attention to the present moment and hone in on a task the brain's focusing neurochemicals kick in neopine phrine and dopamine from there we tilt toward flow but in the modern workplace distractions steal that attention and squander all that performance-enhancing neurochemistry neuroscientist and adviser to us of research Collective Adam gazale says distractions are goal irrelevant information that we either encounter in our external surroundings or generate internally within our minds the key word here is information we're
7:41 wired to Crave it the brain responds to new information in the same way it responds to food and sex with a pleasurable dopamine hit this served our ancestors because new information was a matter of life or death but it cripples the productivity of modern-day professionals sources of dopamine inducing information are everywhere all the time time this isn't just about overt forms of distraction like your phone co-workers or social media anything that the brain has to filter out that's not directly relevant to the task at hand is considered information that has to be filtered and here's the key your brain suffers from distraction because it's bombarded by irrelevant information that it has to ignore this is because ignoring is not a passive process like noise cancelling headphones the more noise your brain has to filter the more battery it drains though it
8:28 seems to happen automatically filtering out a relevant stimuli is a highly effortful and active process for the brain it taxes our gray matter and attention it hinders memory and the Brain fatigue increases self-distraction meaning the impulse to divert attention away from the task and do something else that's easier it's more stimulating and more dopamine Rich for example for those with a poorly optimized workspace visual clutter competes for attention as they try to work their brain has to filter out the stacks of paper cooworker chatter and trinkets on their desk draining their cognitive resources think of it this way the option to distract is itself a distraction and all information is a distraction the more you reduce irrelevant input the more neurochemical and cognitive resources you have for Focus the essential precursor to Flow
9:14 State that means that winning the war for your attention is about what you ignore the workspace Olympian Engineers their flow Dojo to minimize what their brain has to filter out doing the work for the brain in advance so how do we set up our flow Dojo such as our cognitive resources aren't drained by a relevant stimuli and can instead be channeled and compounded entirely into our work well first keep your phone Out Of Reach and off the phone is obviously a source of distraction but what's less obvious is that the mere presence of a phone is a distraction that impairs cognitive functioning even when it's not being used even if you have all sounds and notifications disabled even if it's turned off and faed down on the desk this brain drain effect occurs because the process of trying not to think about
9:59 the phone uses up some of the brain's cognitive resources causing a reduction in cognitive capacity now remember information itself is a distraction and your phone is arguably the number one source for incoming information to avoid that batch all email checking texting and social media into predesignated times then turn off all notifications then keep the phone in a Cupboard the other room or the car that way it won't GW at your attention this makes use also of friction putting just enough inconvenience between yourself and the phone to encourage a boredom and juicing break that is a low stimulation break like staring at a wall that makes you crave getting back to work instead of a break that makes you resist the work like scrolling social media if your phone is in the other room and turned
10:45 off that might be just enough friction to prevent you from giving into the temptation to check it lastly you want as few gadgets sources of distraction as possible ideally you don't have a phone a TV and a tablet inside you don't want access to video games at your desk most Professionals for almost all kinds of work actually tend to in our experience only need one monitor or laptop and one phone all the other gadgets from what we've seen training thousands of clients tend to drive distraction more than productivity by expanding the scope within which we can be distracted the surface area of distraction increases so instead we want to simplify we want to just get rid of these things here's a helpful way to remember this euristic have less to ignore so you can focus
11:30 more now the second principle for architecting your flow Dojo is to be conscious of anchoring bias anchoring bias is a cognitive bias related to the research done by Dr Daniel canaman and anchoring bias specifically means that we anchor or key off of the standards and traits that Define our current environment those traits become self-fulfilling and perpetuate and transition into our work let me show you what I mean by that legendary basketball coach John Wooden leveraged anchoring bias when coaching the UCLA brues in 1948 at the time the team was known for sloppy practices and undisciplined play wooden's first lesson for his players was not about layups but about how to pull up their socks leaving no flaps
12:16 inside their sneakers to avoid blisters and how to tie their shoes perfectly to prevent sprained ankles these small details cascaded and the anchored traits created an environment of precision and excellence this approach to coaching led to incredible success for wooden and his UCLA teams winning 10 NCAA championships in 12 years so anchoring bias establishes new environmental defaults and Norms disorder or discipline obviously us onean thing to be on the disciplined side of the spectrum so to use anchoring bias to your advantage in your flow Dojo start by clearing the clutter clutter strongly predicts procrastination fatigue and negative emotions it increases cognitive load affecting the brain's ability to to concentrate and a messy work environment can cause conscientious people to commit
13:03 more errors and be less accurate during tasks as PE performers we want our work to be high quality worldclass and clean if surrounded by dirt and unwashed coffee cups and plates with leftover food and untied shoes due to anchoring bias and US keying off all of those variables in the external environment it's likely that will translate into our work one of the things I always emphasize to our sales team is that because of anchoring bias messiness on their desk anchors into bad spelling and formatting and slack messages which anchors into poorly written emails to prospects which anchors into decreased sales results which anchors into reduced revenue for the company which results in us not fulfilling our mission of spreading flow to the world so every one of these stages is an anchor for
13:49 excellence or sloppiness conversely a clean orderly work environment reduces stress and gives us a sense of control over our environment which helps alleviate stress and anxiety a sense of control is also one of the key characteristics of Flow State we increase our flow proness when we increase our sense of control however small think of it this way you shape your environment and your environment shapes your performance principle three is to make the space conducive to the physiology of focus start by avoiding obviously unfit work environments like coffee shops sofas and restaurants when we work in environments in which the context isn't explicitly designed for work we risk operating in that Gray Zone that half working half not working state of split focus and diffuse deluded
14:34 attention we're aiming for binary work working like a lion the lion Sprints to kill its prey eats then rests completely no in between we can do the same we're either on or off and the environments we work in can support that coffee shops sofas and restaurants send a mixed message to your brain and body about what it's supposed to be doing in the space these sorts of environments aren't conducive to that kind of sprinting and singular attention an important caveat here the same stimulus can concentrate or derail depending on a neurological process called sensory gating which refers to the neural processes of filtering out redundant or irrelevant stimuli from all possible environmental stimuli reaching the brain when trying to focus your brain will respond to external stimuli based on how selective
15:20 your sensory gating is for some environmental stimuli can Kickstart and maintain concentration by creating friction or accountability the presence of others implicitly keeps them on track if you're sitting in a big co-working space you aren't likely to violate the social norms and then just veg out on the floor with your phone or take a nap in this way the noise and activity counteract their tendency to get distracted and paradoxically they turn their attention inward the environment regulates you rather than you having to self-regulate and exert more discipline within the environment on the other hand others with a less selective sensory gating mechanism might find external stimuli overwhelming their attention gets sucked out by stimuli unable to
16:05 filter it out approximately 10 to 20% of individuals have sensory processing sensitivity or SPS SPS is not a disorder but a normal variation observed in over a 100 species including humans now this difference in sensory gating can be attributed to variations in neural Pathways particularly in the thalamus the brain's relay station for sensory information when the thalamus doesn't affect regulate sensory input even minor external stimuli can disrupt Focus instead of sharpening it in these cases people tend to thrive in silent Solitude generating concentration internally of course the same brain can respond differently to external stimuli at different moments now be aware of your tendency and state and shape your environment accordingly next we want to
16:51 make your office something that alores you this is what I did in Mexico City the magnetic pull of the environment alone was enough to dramatically my performance your flow Dojo is your place to create value to earn a living and to make an impact treat it as the investment that it is make working at your desk a treat and if possible set things up so you have an epic view you want something expansive but not distracting like Horizon Lines sprawling Emerald fields or mountains this can help you think big expand your perception of possibilities and soothe your nervous system finally the biggest lever you can pull to make your space conducive to focus is through positional variance to light up your physiology performance and endurance and of course access flow more consistently we want to set up your space to be able to alternate between standing sitting and
17:37 walking the ideal ratio for flow is to stand for 50% of the time walk for 25% of the time and then sit for 25% of the time swapping positions like this reduces perceived exertion which is how hard it feels like your body is working your body reaches fatigue in one position and this fatigue affects your performance when you switch you get a reset in the amount of effort you feel like you've just just exerted so remember this rule to reset exertion change positions and to help with this get a standing desk standing enhances blood flow delivering more oxygen to sharpen alertness to sustain a standing position use a motion board this lets you subtly Rock side to side so you can stand without cramping up for the standing desk it doesn't have to be fancy even a stack of books or boxes will do you can also use a stability ball or kneeling chair to swap seated
18:24 positions sitting upright without a back rest strengthens your core and posture and reduces lower back pain because physical pain can be a formidable distraction which can block flow being painfree on the other hand increases our flow proness then for walking you can take walking meetings and get an inexpensive treadmill to put under your treadmill desk walking triggers exercise and Juiced transient hyperfrontality this shifts brain resources from the prefrontal cortex to the parts that control physical movements and automatic responses which also happen in flow this subtle shift enables key f assets of flow like reduced self-consciousness time Distortion and heightened Focus you can also take walking meetings after the walk because of the exercise induced transient H brutality you'll be able to get into flow more easily when you sit
19:10 back down to work principle four for creating your flow Dojo is to eliminate the invisible enemy friction friction is the invisible enemy of flow it's all of these micro moments of frustration where you have to waste cognitive resources on finding untangling tidying or sorting it's the annoying hassle digging up old computer files or digging your phone charger out of your backpack untangling it and then having to hunch over to plug it into a spot that's an awkward distance away from your desk each of these little moments of friction are kind of like being pinched they're tiny zaps of irritation that Spike cortisol the body's stress response to friction is nearly identical to getting your arm actually pinched and it chips away your cognitive resources the solution is to clear every inch of friction from your workspace to help with this first get
19:57 organized so that everything is easily retrievable this means taming that big Shelf full of wires removing the pile of paper that your headphones are buried under and keeping a pen handy so you no longer have to move to find one for frictionless flow make it easy to access everything without looking another way to help keep things organized is to minimize to avoid anything that's not conducive to flow research has found that those who work in a more minimalist office environment experience less cognitive load and higher levels of concentration and focus a minimalist environment reduces the amount of competing stimuli the brain as to process allowing for better allocation of attentional resources to the task at hand with my setup I use one monitor plug the laptop into it and shut the laptop to avoid the distraction of other screens remember this as a general rule
20:43 when you cut friction you multiply flow now next up principle five is to deter disruptions like mosquitoes disruptions are a minor annoyance in the moment but a single bite can lead to a week of inflamed itchiness and irritation and the 15 disrupt ition per hour that the average professional experiences are like a sledgehammer to your productivity when you're deep in a task disruptions scatter your mental focus forcing your brain into resource draining contact switching your focus relies on neurotransmitters like dopamine and disruptions re-root these chemicals often wasting them in the process plus disruptions can trigger stress hormones like cortisol which can become toxic and lead to burnout over time in Neuroscience there's a term for the mental toll of these d ruptions the
21:29 switch cost these mental shifts can devour up to 40% of your productive time your flow Dojo must account for the cost of these disruptions and we can do this in two ways number one is to be inaccessible or invisible a closed door office with a node on the door works they can't see you and they can't access you if you can't do this simulate it get as close to that as you possibly can as often as possible keep your back facing others to minimize eye contact wear big shotgun or ear muffs or headphones number two is to make it a big deal to interrupt you make it feel burdensome for others to interrupt you you have to move to turn around and uncover your ears maybe if it's an obvious bother you'll be bothered less clearly demonstrate your productivity this is another side benefit of flow based on
22:14 Paul eckman's research on micro Expressions our face reflects the state we're in and what we've seen with flow is that your gaze will often intensify in a way that causes others to be more averse to interrupting you so when you're in flow your fa implicitly let others know same with work at home have environmental boundaries to guard yourself from the distractions of others the Golden Rule here don't let disruptions reroot your dopamine now principle six is to condition your workspace for flow picture your childhood kitchen the scuffed tile floor faded yellow walls decorated with your drawings held by magnets dad maybe humming a simmering pots fill a small room with warmth and the Tang of spices the sticky door that always needed a firm hip bump to get the latch closed
23:00 and the clink of ceramic mugs bumping together in the cabinet even years later one whiff of cinnamon or the sound of sizzling oil might bring you right back with Nostalgia overwhelming your physiology or that unique atmosphere the instant you stepped into school stale air tinged with an odd but nostalgic scent of dry erased markers weathered textbooks and cafeteria Pizza the steady metallic click of multiple combinations dialed in locker Halls the sudden wall of sound is CL classro doors opened spilling laughter and chatter into the vast tiled space echoed with friendships and pencils dropping environments intricately tied to mental States and even The faintest Echoes can mentally transport us back through time we tend to underestimate this but now what if you could harness this same concept not
23:46 to elicit Nostalgia but to deliberately cultivate laser-like Focus well classical conditioning has long been used to create learned associations the classic example is Ivan Pavlov's experiment with dogs by consistently pairing the neutral stimulus of a bell with the reflexive response of feeding the dogs Pavlov conditioned them to salivate at the sound of the Bell alone a similar principle is applied in cbti sleep therapy for insomnia patients strictly keep their bed for Sleep only no screens or reading this Associates the bed with the Sleep response rather than with wakefulness over time the bed becomes a cue for physiological sleep and just as cbti classically conditions the bed for sleep you can condition your workspace for flow the neutral stimuli becomes the desk chair computer your
24:34 office environment pair this repeatedly with the focus work and you can trigger flow via proven triggers as well a specific playlist caffeine light exercise then while in this peak State immerse yourself in Focus work over time your office environment alone will trigger heightened focus and motivation but here's the key for this classical conditioning to kick in only use your flow dojo for focused work in the same way you don't want to associate your bed with anything but sleep you probably don't want to associate your flow Dojo with anything but focused work this means don't allow yourself to slip if you find yourself starting to procrastinate in your office or get distracted checking your phone scrolling social media hopping on a call with your friend then literally get up and walk out of your office immediately so it doesn't get conditioned for those
25:20 anti- focused things that way your workspace becomes a cue for your brain to release dopamine and norepinephrine with consistency merely entering your office will put you in a state of mind that's conducive to Peak Performance and you can add stimuli to your office to increase the stimulus link that's associated with your flow Dojo including sound and scent I like to play rhythmic instrumental music and bino beats in my office and I like to burn an incense stick as I pull it out spark the lighter and start burning it my brain knows it's time to focus it's also relaxing and the only sense that goes straight to the amydala sound and scent can create an invisible environment a flow cave that you can can escape into immersed in your work now let's tie all of this together with a simple checklist use this to create your own flow dojo and even if it takes you a few weeks to set up the
26:06 ideal conditions or months or even years it's worth it you can download this checklist for free just click the link in the description it contains all the principles we've covered for upgrading your workspace into a flow dojo now first there's your workstation select an automatic adjustable standing desk which can change height with the Press of a button and incorporate diverse seating an ergonomic chair a backless chair or saddle seat a stability ball and a comfy couch or hammock for relaxation of brainstorming then do some clutter management use cable tags and Management Systems to organize wires neatly opt for wireless devices to minimize clutter keep your desk clear with only essential work tools present to leverage anchoring bias and set up the ergonomics adjust your work station to ensure optimal ey
26:53 line neck alignment and posture the neutral middle of your monitor should should align with your natural eye level the key is that your screen is equal to eye level don't be hunched over on a couch typing this is bad for your neck and back it suppresses all your vital organs and reduces Inception which is a form of embodied cognition known to enhance creativity and performance include an ergonomic Mouse to reduce strain during prolonged use I like to use a single monitor with a single laptop with a wireless keyboard and trackpad next up you've got your Tech and your gadgets always have a mle skin notebook and pen on the desk for quick notes this is really helpful for dumping anything out of your mind to reduce cognitive load it's also really helpful to write down ideas while you're on meetings so you don't need to interrupt teammates or get distracted by trying to
27:40 hold something in mind get a pair also of noise cancelling fire truck off on in flow headphones that will block out and suppress stimuli use a single large monitor with her adjustable arms for flexibility so that if you want to move position you can move it around store your phone outside the office to to minimize distractions minimize the need for impulse control don't have a fridge nearby loaded with soda or Donuts the next part of the flow Dojo checklist is furniture and Aesthetics choose a consistent theme and look that you like for your office furniture that makes the space alluring and appealing to you also keep in mind the flow of the room where attention is naturally channeled in which activities are spotlighted based on the arrangement of the furniture actually matters you can follow the principles of fangue which is said to
28:26 enhance Focus and productivity by harmonizing individuals with their surrounding environment through spatial Arrangement so you want to make sure you've got good fangu and you can do a deep dive into that to figure out how to get that tight we also want to invest in Quality Furniture that complements the style that we like we want to add plants for air purification and touch of nature we want to minimize visual distractions keeping a clean simple environment to keep cognitive load low and for books that you enjoy on Kindle or audible consider getting a physical copy of each to have an office Library the mere presence of books can enhance cognitive capacity fostering an environment conducive to learning and creativity from there it's time to optimize the space itself if you work in an open Office Space you want to request to work
29:12 from home persuade your boss that you'll accomplish more at home and prove it to them over time the key is to avoid the gray Zone where you are half communicating with people and half working we want to dial in the lighting and temperature ensuring we have plenty of natural light sunlight combats fatigue fuels productivity and regulates our mood and circadian rhythm keep the room temperature around 21 to 25 degrees C if it's too cold studies show way more mistakes happen and you expand energy just trying to stay warm but if it's too hot you get lethargic so you want to find your sweet spot and maintain it choose a room with a view that inspires calm and creativity you also want your office located at an optimal distance from where you sleep or where you live you don't want it to be so far that you've got to commute where you have to drive to work but you don't want it to
29:58 be so close that you have no environmental separation from your bedroom so ideally it's not in your room or next door to your room if it's in your house ideally it's outside the house or at least on the other side of the house and if it's further away from your house ideally you can at least walk because we want to be able to make sure that our space for working is distinct we're not mixing context too much we want to be able to go to work and come home from work at least to some degree returning to personal spaces after work signals the brain to relax and detach from work which is key for work life balance and preventing burnout the final part of the checklist is to make it easy to reset the room Implement a system to easily transition between standing and sitting like a preset height adjustment on your desk every time you leave the
30:44 room press the button to reset the desk to its standing setting practice a strict policy of never putting things down always putting them away for keeping things tidy and if needed conduct an initial Purge of the office removing all non essential items gradually reintroduce only those items that are essential or significantly beneficial to productivity and what's key to understand is that even if you can't set up the absolutely ideal flow Dojo you want to take it as far as you can with whatever you've got make it a priority to create a minimum viable flow Dojo even when you're traveling you can use boxes or pillows or books for a standing desk and set up your space for focus and flow for example during the height of the co pandemic and lockdowns I was stuck in a living situation that required to use my bathroom as an office
31:29 it wasn't the best but I made it work I could sit on the edge of the bathtub and prop my laptop neatly on the sink there was plenty of lateral light from the windows candles to soothe my amydala and most importantly no one would bother me during that time that bathroom was my flow dojo and even though this was a bizarre working environment it was low in distraction and I made huge professional progress in that workpace the bottom line being your office is more than just a space it's the epicenter of your productivity and your Crea creativity each element should contribute to an environment that Fosters Focus comfort and flow regularly re-evaluate your space to ensure it remains a true reflection of your work and aspirations it's worth every second invested to craft your flow Dojo into something that inspires you that plunges
32:14 you into states of deep performance and focus so that you can create your greatest work to get the very most out of your flow Dojo there's also a way you can prolong your Flow State so that it lasts the entire day to learn how click here
