Why Get Into a Flow state?
In simple terms, flow states are great because they allow you to perform at the true edge of your abilities. On the more day-to-day end of things, they’re great for getting a lot of work done in a short amount of time.
For some of the folks I’ve mentioned in the previous section, the ability to make conscious, informed decisions in an instant can be a life-or-death matter, and for those people, flow-states are an indispensable tool to accomplish the mission at hand.
In my own life, I use flow states most commonly when I teach: on a good day, I can give an hour and a half lecture on a given topic and take student questions while I do it. I do this with no notes other than the ones I skim before class. It’s just me, a marker, a whiteboard, and my wits. Being able to think and reply quickly is one of the things that makes me an engaging lecturer.
It can also be handy when writing: on an excellent day, it’s possible for me to write 1,000 words in under ten minutes, and have written something worth reading and thinking about (at least, I hope so, you should tell me in the comments).