Ronnie Nurss

Flow is something I try to attain and work on every day. Flow is also referred to as “On the money” and “In a groove”. According to the definition on Wikipedia, Flow is a mental state of operation where you are fully immersed in whatever you are doing. The best example that comes to mind is sports. The best, most clear, and exhilarating moments of flow I have had in my life was during my high school basketball career. Besides sports, I have also felt it in engaging conversations, school projects, writing my thoughts, and even driving.

The father of Flow, psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, lists the components of flow and also tips on how groups could flow together here.

When I think of flow, I think of passion, drive, purpose, and love. To really enjoy life to the fullest and savour the moment sort of speak, always try to find your flow, your groove in whatever it you set out to do in life. Be it your job, relationships, your home and hobbies, if you have trouble trying to find flow with it, chances are you probably could be happier doing something else. Every successful person of their trade has mastered the art of flow, from Kobe and Tiger to Mark Cuban. They find something they love to do, and excel at it.

In any situation you put yourself in in life, ask yourself the crucial and deep question: “Got Flow?”

Probably my worst habit is bullshitting on the internet.  Second is worrying about small things.  For any bad habits you have, I’m sure I’m not alone when I spend, actually waste, countless hours on these habits.  I’ll go on the internet to check something out related to school, then I will get sucked into what I call “BS Surfing”.  I just randomly surf the internet and wasting time on things that arn’t relevant to anything I am trying to accomplish.

The same goes for worrying about everyday problems.  I once read one of my favorite Mark Twain quotes:  “I have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.”   I also waste too much energy and time worrying about totally irrelevant BS. 

So starting from now on, I will simply keep a small notepad labeled “BS”.  If I find any urges to research something, or worry about something, I will write it down on my BS list, and move on.  I will then dedicate a part of one day a week, for me Sunday afternoons, to go crazy on researching any BS I want to, and also contemplate about any of the small worries that bothered me during the week.

 You’ll find that you will no longer have the need to research what you wanted, and you will most likely laugh at all the small things you worried about.  Basically, to make my life more efficient, I’m going to expiriment by batching my “BS” time wasters together on my designated BS day.

I recently read an article provided by the website of John Assaraf, author of Having It All. If you dedicated 1 hour a day to anything; from working out, studying Spanish, writing, or practicing visualization and meditation, you can seriously become kick ass at whatever it is you spend that hour doing.

Honestly, an hour is not much to invest towards anything you would like to start, study, or do in life. Never think little of an hour, or even dare to waste one. Sure one hour of a day doesn’t seem to account for much, but over the course of one year, imagine dedicating 9 40 hour workweeks to studying the brain or learning the guitar. You will become great, definitely well above “average”. The ROI of one hour a day can potentially be HUGE.

I plan to dedicate at least one hour a day to learning something new or being productive, not busy, in a task that will bring me closer to my goals. If needed to, you can mix it up monthly too. Dedicate 2 months to this, start a new activity the following months, etc.

This is great for full time students like me. Of course, like Tim Ferriss, I will dedicated months at a time to traveling abroad and studying or learning a new hobby. But for now, I will use this concept as efficiently as possible.

Imagine the hobbies you could learn and pick up and become great at with this simple concept. If you ever wanted to learn or practice a new thing, what would it be?

Growing up a 90s kid, I was heavily influenced by 90s music,  and I have to admit, I still enjoy those infamous 90s one-hit wonders.  Recently heard the New Radicals - You Get What You Give, which was basically my anthem during the 90s, and got slapped with perhaps the best advice I think anyone can do, regardless of age, status, money etc. 

The one sure thing you can control in life is what you give.  Whether your giving out help of any kind, compliments, or even just a smile.  Obviously also works just as negatively, like giving out hate, road rage, whatever….

You always control what you give.  You give someone hard work and and impressive results, that person will give you a job or raise.  It doesnt work the other way around.  I feel that people do the total opposite.  They think they should be given, then they’ll “do” in return.  This is a total losers concept. 

You cant expect to be hand given shit in todays world.  You have to go out and get it (give work) or in some cases demand it (give/show your value).  Of course responsibility goes hand in hand with this.  When you demand something, that means you deserve it through your positive actions, not because you think you should.

So try this out for a week and see how it makes you feel and how it affects your life.  Each day as you wake up, decide one thing you will constantly give that day (smiles, respect, listening, help).  Practice giving without asking or expecting something in return.  Do the one thing you can control in life, becuase “You Get What You Give”.

I’m going to connect a couple posts from 2 great writers together about the rising and viable need for solitude in today’s information packed world. Ryan Holiday wrote a post about the need to demand and take time for yourself to have meditative isolation. Glenn recently commented on this particular post, and added this great thought:

So with these two great thoughts from two great writers, I will attempt to add my own spin on this. After reading “The World is Flat“, and realizing the the playing field of the world is flattening, with jobs and business (globalization) and now information, which means that everyone anywhere can be competition. For anybody to achieve great success in today’s world, having the ability to recognize the viable need for solitude is paramount. Its not who has information or knowledge, but what you can do with it, requiring innovation and imagination. You have to take solitude and really think, grasp, and learn the information you consume. Like Glenn greatly put, ” How can we, collectively, continue to prosume when we hardly have the chance to comprehend what we consume?”

To compete and succeed in the ever growing competitive world, you must take time for solitude to effectively learn and cultivate imagination and innovation with whatever information you get your hands on.

According to the article, “Task, not Time: Profile of a Gen Y job”, by Tamara J. Erickson, the Gen Y workers are challenging the traditional 40-hour workweek or eight hour day and rather be compensated for what they produce, not the time they put in.

Many Generation Y workers find themselves with the ability and preference of completing tasks faster and with more flexibility. With supreme technological proficiency skills compared to older workers, we as a generation would much rather achieve the work as efficient as possible, without any unnecessary hours spent in the office. With the ideal to work “asynchronously” - anytime, anywhere, Gen Y workers, along with many other factors involved, are changing and shifting away from the traditional 9-5 Monday through Friday workweek, and companies are taking notice.

There is proof of this trend being beneficial to companies, such as IBM and Best Buy. The article states that 40% of IBM have no official office, and Best Buy has reported better relationships with family and friends, more company loyalty, and more focus and energy from choosing their own hours to work as opposed to the traditional 9-5. Summing this up, Gen Y workers are finding new ways to be efficient and are ultimately pushing the idea of “Task, not Time”.

As a generation Y kid myself, am more drawn to using efficient tools to accomplish tasks, as opposed to having to come in and not leave til a certain time, not being as productive as I could. After reading the 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss, I was officially programmed to pursue the freedom and flexibility to accomplish task as effiecient as possible. Now, besides working 2 shifts at a gym that allows me to read or do homework (free membership too), my other part time job is marketing and public relations for a restaurant, where I accomplish tasks from home and record my hours based on the honor system. I work Fridays usually 10am to 3pm, where I actually come in, but I am constant pushing for more efficient ways of working, like communication more through email as opposed to phone.

With this trend in mind, do you support this new shift of production in the workplace, or would you feel more comfortable in a traditional 9-5 work setting? If you support this trend, I highly recommend to study the 4-Hour Workweek, Parkinson’s Laws, and the 80/20 Principle, and practice utilizing these tools to be productive and efficient, not busy.