As I watched the Super Bowl last night – where, I must admit, I was cheering for the Colts – I couldn’t help but marvel at how well Drew Brees was playing.

To be sure, he was in the zone from the 2nd quarter through the end of the game. The Colts simply couldn’t stop him.

The fact Brees seemed to be “in the zone” is actually referred to as being in the state of Flow.

Lean practitioners often speak about flow, or making material and information flow smoothly without interruption. And while this is great stuff, it’s not the same Flow Drew Brees experienced last night in the warm Miami air.

The Psychology of Flow

The phenomena we call Flow was first proposed by Hungarian psychology professor Mihály Csíkszentmihályi.

There are many formal definitions of Flow with most of them explaining that Flow is a mental state of being whereby a person is completely immersed in the task at hand. And during this immersion the person experiences a sense of laser focus, energy, and extreme satisfaction.

The question now becomes how non NFL football players of the world, like most of us, can consistently achieve this same, or similar, state of Flow in our daily life.

Here are my thoughts on 5 specific things we can all do. And, as always, I look forward to learning from your thoughts and comments.

1. Unplug From the World

In order to experience Flow you must do your best to unplug from the world. This means, gasp, closing down your email, Twitter account, Facebook page, and Internet browser in general.

It also means turning your phones (cell and landline) off since nothing will break Flow faster than either of these devices doing what they do best – make noise and distract.

2. Stand Up

There is more and more research explaining how detrimental sitting for extended periods of time is to the human body.

As such, standing is a far better option. Initially it will be hard, and finding Flow might be difficult as your legs ache for the first week or so, but eventually you’ll find yourself far more focused and productive as you stand and work.

3. Know Your Stuff

Athletes like Drew Brees are so good at what they do (since they’ve practiced for thousands of hours) they’re often able to perform on a completely different level than most.

And so it is with us. Once we become extremely good at something, by practicing, we’ll have a much better chance of finding Flow while doing this type of work, or slight variations of it.

For example, while I’m not a professional blogger by any means, I have written a few things in my life. I’m comfortable writing. And since I try to write like I talk… once I get an idea in mind I’m often able to pound out 750 words in no time at all.

Psychologists often refer to this concept of “knowing your stuff” extremely well as overlearning, meaning you’ve practiced a particular task so much it leads to something called automaticity.

4. Work on What Matters

You’ll have a much better chance of achieving Flow when you’re working on things that really matter.

While I’m sure he competes hard no matter what game he’s playing, I’m quite confident the fact Drew Brees was playing in the biggest sporting event of his life assisted him in achieving the level of Flow he experienced last night.

So, while we all have to take care of the menial tasks in life… do your best to work on the tasks that matter most to you.

5. Find Work You Love

If you hate your work it’s going to be difficult to experience Flow.

So, while it’s not always immediately possible, you should strive to find work you love and are passionate about.

When I first sat behind a Gemba Academy video camera I was a nervous wreck since I wasn’t very good at it. But there was something intriguing about it. So I persevered.

Now, after lots of practice, there are few things I love more than sitting behind those cameras while waxing poetic about all things lean.

There’s no doubt about it… I love what I do and, as such, often find myself in a state of Flow while the lights are on and camera’s rolling.

What about you?

So these are a few things you can try as you aim to find Flow in your daily work.

Do you agree with my list? Do you have any additional ideas for how you find the zone and enter into the state of Flow?

No matter what you do for a living one thing is certain – personal productivity matters. A lot.

My wife stays home raising our 4 kids. She does her very best to be productive.

I run a company, among other things. I do my very best to be productive.

You _________. You likely do your very best to be productive.

So what to do? How can we all be more productive citizens of this great world of ours?

Allow me to share my thoughts on the matter. And, as always, I’m anxious to hear what you think as well.

1. Get Adequate Sleep

No one really understands why this is… but we humans need to sleep. Our bodies must recover while our souls rest.

To be sure, everyone is different, but if you don’t get adequate sleep on a regular basis I feel confident in guaranteeing you’re not as productive as you could be.

Don’t believe me? Prove me wrong and get at least 8 hours of sleep for 14 nights straight and see what happens.

2. Exercise

This is one thing I’ve put off to the side for far too long.

As a countermeasure, I’ve recently started the P90X program and it’s kicking my butt. But I am waking up at 5:15 in the morning and cranking it out in my dimly lit living room.

Recently, I almost puked at the end of a workout (legs and back) but after slugging back my recovery drink and taking a shower I felt like a million bucks – full of energy and ready to take on the day.

Like insufficient sleep, if you don’t exercise you’ll likely feel sluggish throughout the day and, I hate to break it to you, your risk of sickness is much higher than those who do exercise.

3. Eat Well

Next, eating well is extremely important. Like exercise, I was not doing well in this area for a long time. I ate bad foods more than good food and drinking several sugar filled sodas throughout the day was the norm.

Now I’m doing my very best to eat more salads, drink water instead of soda, and since my wife is an organic food fanatic evening meals are always healthy.

4. Read

As important as exercise and diet are to the body I feel reading is equally important for the health and vitality of your mind.

Since you’re reading this sentence chances are you’re doing well in this area. But this doesn’t mean you can’t do better. If you read for 15 minutes before bed crank it up to 20.

5. Pray

Finally, I’m a man of faith and find spending time in quiet prayer extremely valuable.

It helps me keep perspective while also seeking guidance as I navigate through this thing called life.

If you’re not a person of faith I’d still encourage you to take some time throughout the day to quiet your mind and reflect on the blessings and challenges of your life.

What about you?

So those are 5, albeit not simple, things any person can do to improve their personal productivity.

What do you think of the list? Do you agree with it? Do you do anything I’ve not mentioned in order to increase your personal productivity?

I recently came across an elegant and minimalist online “to do” tracking tool called Teux Deux.

Now, to be sure, I am a fan of the hand written to do list… but since I travel a lot I also like to maintain an online list.

This tool is free and very easy to use and I am giving it a shot… feel free to do the same and let me know how you get on.

Here is a short, and somewhat quirky, video explaining how it works. If you’re reading this via email or RSS reader you will likely need to click through to the site. Enjoy!

TeuxDeux Demo from TeuxDeux on Vimeo.

I was on the road last night doing some work  in my hotel room.

After an hour or so my back started to hurt from the crappy chair I was sitting in so I decided to create my very own “stand up desk to go” in honor of my recent home office stand up desk.

And for the record… my little arrangement worked great!  See what a little creativity and problem solving can accomplish?

I first witnessed so called “stand up desks” in Japan during my JKE trip. As an aside you can read about this amazing trip here, here, here, here, and here.

Anyhow, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of the idea.  I mean come on… standing up all the time… seriously?  The claims are that those that always stand are far more productive than those that sit in comfortable chairs.

Kevin Takes Action

Well, a few months after I got back from Japan my friend Kevin Meyer went on this same JKE trip and saw the same thing I did.  The only difference is Kevin took action when he got home and scrapped his traditional desk for a stand up desk.  It’s now more than one year later and Kevin is still standing.

It’s Now My Time

So, alas, I decided it was time to give it a try myself and this weekend I converted my old desk into a stand up desk.

I used an old shelf I had to hold my monitor and speakers so the only thing on the desk top was my wireless keyboard and mouse.

I used a small hole saw to cut an opening behind the monitor and down towards the floor to hide all the cables which is really nice.

How Did You Do It?

Now, you might be wondering how I increased the height of my desk.  Well, my goal was to not spend a cent on this project so I got creative and used two storage crates I already had to hold the desk up.

I know it’s not super professional and I’ll likely find a better solution over the next few weeks… but I didn’t want to delay anymore than I had.  And, again, I didn’t want to spend any money until I was convinced this was how I wanted to work for the next 30 years!

So Far So Good

It’s taking some getting used to… especially typing.  But my back feels great and I find myself far more focused on what I need to do.  So, we’ll see how it goes.  I’ll offer some updates from time to time and when (and if) I scrap the crates for something more professional I’ll be sure to let you know!

What Do You Think?

So, do you think I’m nuts?  Or are you standing at your desk as you read this?  And if you’re sitting could you ever imagine giving this stand up desk thing a try?