The working environment can often become pressuring and overwhelming. The more complex your tasks get, the harder it might be for you to handle them diligently. We know you want to find the easiest ways to enter a flow state in situations like these. So we’ve come up with some helpful advice for you.
What Is A Flow State?
A flow state is a psychological state where you feel maximum productivity, readiness, and concentration to complete a task. (Sounds like a dream state, right?)
When coding, some of the most common distractors might be losing concentration, feeling exhausted, and procrastinating until the last minute.
Adopting some practices for entering a flow state is your best saver. It promises fast and effective results, a highly focused working environment free of distractions, and productivity.
6 Tips To Enter A Coding Flow State
Even more than in any other field, in coding, maintaining focus during the work is one of the most demanding yet crucial aspects of the process. Writing one-third of the code and getting distracted is a common problem that programmers have been trying to solve.
So, here are some tips on entering a coding flow state you’re going to love.
Understand Every Detail of Your Task
If you do not clearly understand what code your client wants from you, the chances are that you may never reach a flow state. To succeed in the task, make sure you are familiarizing yourself with all the details of your task. If needed, ask the relevant questions to your client, take notes, and clarify whatever seems vague to you.
An important note is that you should be doing all of this before starting writing your code. Get the answers to all the questions beforehand so that you can plan your working speed accordingly.
Assess Your Competence Objectively
No one knows your potential better than you. Hence, be objective when assessing the difficulty level of the coding task. Ideally, you should not take over tasks that your skills do not allow you to complete successfully. On the other hand, how would you grow professionally if you don’t agree to overcome challenges?
So, finding a golden middle should be your priority. Do not underestimate your talent, and be brave enough to face challenging tasks. However, make sure to distinguish between the tasks you can accomplish with extra effort and those you still need to grow for.
Improve Your Skills Consistently
To enter a flow state, your confidence matters the most. The more you believe in yourself, the higher your motivation will be to finish the task. Therefore, you need to improve your programming skills and acquire knowledge consistently.
WildLearner can become your free programming tutor. You will find free courses ranging from HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to C++, Python, and Java. These courses will train you and let you master whichever programming area you need help with.
Set Reasonable Deadlines For Yourself
Most of your tasks will have deadlines set by clients. Other times, you might be assigned to provide an estimation of when the task will be completed. Although deadlines might be stressful in general, having a deadline motivates you to work faster and stay more organized. Moreover, deadlines evoke responsibility and contribute greatly to the progress of the work. Hence, even if your task does not have a strict deadline, you should consider setting one for yourself.
Put an alarm on your phone, or plan something exciting right after the deadline to motivate yourself to complete the work as soon as possible. This will make you more productive and help eliminate procrastination.
Isolate From Distractors
Distraction is one of the biggest enemies of programmers (and not only). When you are focused on writing the most complicated code on Earth, some tiny thing might steal your attention and destroy your focus. Obviously, situations like these are often out of your control. However, there are certain actions you could take to ensure the minimum amount of distraction.
Work in a workroom, office, or bedroom, any isolated place that you find comfortable. Turn off your phone notifications to not be distracted every second. Create personal space for your working environment. Close the tabs on your computer that do not help you at the time of working. All of these should help you stay concentrated and enter your flow state.
Ask For Feedback
You need to get timely updates on how your code progresses and what you should modify. Therefore, keep in touch with your employer and ask for feedback while working. Collaborate with the other members of your team, too. Ask for their insights when you feel overwhelmed. Quite often, your team members might give you brilliant advice which will reset your engine.
Conclusion
The flow state is the psychological state where your motivation, focus, and productivity reach their peak, enabling you to produce the best work possible.
Entering the flow state in coding is challenging. However, if you learn how to do it, your success is guaranteed. Some tips we recommend include perceiving your task, being objective towards your potential, and improving your skills consistently.
To enhance your skills, we suggest you look at WildLearner, an online programming tutor that will guide you through the simplest and the most complex programming topics for free (that’s not a joke!).
