On the mental state of “flow” termed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, he offers somewhat of a map to reach to state of flow, with boredom and anxiety being feelings along the way (almost prerequisites?).

Chris Bailey shared a chart from the Flow book. In his own words, it’s a bit hard to understand.

Here’s a simpler table to help guide you to flow state (sorry about words wrapping in the cells):

How are you feeling?	Bored	Anxious	Flow
So, do this:	Turn off distractions	Turn off distractions!	Keep distractions turned off
	Increase your challenge	Improve your skills	Keep Growing

Essentially:

• Turn off distractions
• Increase the challenges you’re facing
• Improve your skills so you can take on larger challenges
• Make use of the flow mental state to create your best work