KEY POINTS:
Our lifestyle has sped up incredibly in the past few decades and is not going to slow down, but we can learn to work smarter by being "in flow", says Australian business consultant and scientist Dr Adam Fraser. Recently in New Zealand delivering business seminars for The Knowledge Gym on "finding your flow", Fraser became interested in this area after undertaking a 13-year study of elite athletes and top business performers. He was looking at links between people's physiology and their ability to perform well mentally and physically and found that those who performed highly and with ease were what he refers to as "in the zone" or "in flow". "Can you recall a time when you felt you were performing at your best and everything fell into place and you were focused, energised and inspired by your own enthusiasm? That is being in flow," says Fraser.
However, he adds, it is a state rarely felt in our overly speedy lifestyle because people never switch off.
According to Fraser, the average employee is interrupted every seven minutes by email, BlackBerry, phone or co-workers. Trying to cope with so many things affects our ability to focus and we make more mistakes.
What would happen if you turned the ping off your email or switched off your phone? "Suggest that and it is as if you're suggesting people cut off a hand," jokes Fraser.
"It is a horrifying thought for most people. We think we need to be that responsive to do a good job but, in fact, we don't."
As well as affecting your energy levels, a lack of focus also affects relationships, says Fraser. Talking to someone while thinking about something else is not a good look.
"You're not giving that person your undivided attention and that is an ineffective use of your time and impacts on your relationships. We humans have a built in bullshit detector and know if someone isn't interested."
Even after people go home, they tend to keep thinking about work and planning for the next day.
"You go to bed exhausted and wake up exhausted. You then go to work and think about what you should have done with your family the night before and it becomes a never-ending cycle."
Being physically healthy is important. To do that we need sleep, says Fraser, yet 60 per cent of Westerners have sleep issues.
"A poor night's sleep reduces your cognitive functions by a third, which is a huge chunk."
If you're sighing into your coffee cup in recognition, don't fret. Fraser reckons it isn't too difficult to change. The challenge is to break bad habits and develop good ones. The answer? Learning how to re-engage.
"You have to practise it but it is that simple. You train yourself to do the opposite of what you're now doing with your time."
So how do you know when you're in the flow?
Well, says Fraser, it is when you know exactly what you want to do, you're focused and in the present and not worrying about anything else. "When you achieve this, time distorts so it feels like you've been sitting there 15 minutes and it has been two hours. It is productive and not stressful."
Mike Doughty, director of The Knowledge Gym, says attending Fraser's seminar has helped him find ways to become more energised in his work approach. He is practising taking five-minute breaks after an hour of hard work and doing relaxation exercises or having a quick walk. "It releases you; allows you to focus again."
Doughty says he has occasionally in the past been in flow or in "the third place" as he likes to call it. "Like when I'm sitting quietly on a park bench and having real clarity of thought. I'm trying to get that same sense in my workplace."
He has now realised that while an open-plan office is great for communication, it is not great for concentration.
"I've been looking at ways of managing that situation, such as going into another room when I need to have peace and quiet and concentrate fully. It is hard to do something major at your desk when you're continually getting interrupted by workcolleagues."
Another participant in the seminar, human resources consultant Monique Visser, said she attended because she was struggling with time management issues. A strong message to her was the importance of paying attention to her physical state as well as mental. "I learned that it was important to eat well to remain productive and alert through the day."
She also realised that her sleep patterns weren't helping her energy levels.
"In the weekend I'd tend to stay up later and sleep in, and feel jet lagged by Sunday afternoon. Adam talked of the importance of getting up at a fairly regular time, even on weekends. I tried doing that and I feel a lot better. I also realised that I was a dove - a morning person - not an owl. That is valuable, because I now know I work my best in the morning and that is when I should be doing work that requires the most concentration."
However, Visser says it does take an effort to break old habits, particularly when trying to prevent interruptions, whatever form they come in.
"I'm trying to block an hour at a time in the morning to do specifics, then return to messages after that. But I'm bad at ignoring the phone and, when I hear the ping of email, I can't leave it alone." She now sees that when she lets technology dictate, she gets much less done.
She says that the odd time she has managed to be in the flow has been energising.
"You want more of it. It is hard to break habits of a lifetime but I have fleeting moments when I feel I'm getting there."
