
Ask HN: How do you get and stay in the "zone"? - impendia
I have heard HN&#x27;ers describe being in the &quot;zone&quot;, a mental state where you block out the entire rest of the world and are extremely productive.<p>I used to be able to get there regularly, but I went through a stage in my life where I had an enormous amount on my mind, and hence a lot of serious distractions. Life has since calmed down, but non-serious distractions have taken the place of the serious distractions.<p>I am fortunate to have blocks of hours at a time where I have nothing to attend to but my own work. What are your mental strategies for making the most use of them?<p>Thank you!
======
Arjuna
In my experience, the secret is highly correlated to the preparation that I do
_before the work even begins_.

What this means is practicing a daily combination of correct eating, rigorous
exercise and quality sleep. With these elements in harmony and alignment, I am
able to bring it.

I recommend a morning yoga routine [1]. This will clear the mind, revitalize
the body and set the ground-work and tempo for a fantastic day.

I recommend girya [2].

I recommend a Nordic Track ski machine [3]. The Nordic Track ski machine is
one of the most righteous cardio machines ever designed.

You do not need a gym. You can work out at home. Please see my previous
comments here [4].

I wish you nothing but the best in your journey.

[1]
[https://www.google.com/search?q=ashtanga+vinyasa+yoga&tbm=is...](https://www.google.com/search?q=ashtanga+vinyasa+yoga&tbm=isch)

[2]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kettlebell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kettlebell)

[3]
[https://www.google.com/search?&q=nordic+track+ski+machine&tb...](https://www.google.com/search?&q=nordic+track+ski+machine&tbm=isch)

[4]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5617870](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5617870)

~~~
a3voices
Going on a walk outside in the morning like I do is probably better exercise
than yoga.

~~~
AbhishekBiswal
Plus it's easier to do than yoga.

~~~
elwell
Yes, and you can combine it with other purposes (travel). I intentionally get
off the bus at an earlier stop so I can walk through a quiet neighborhood to
my apartment.

~~~
AbhishekBiswal
There's a difference between walking to your house exhausted and walking for
no reason. I like to go for a run everyday, I feel good after it. Never tried
yoga, and don't have any plans to try it.

------
ranebo
Different things work for different people but I'll throw my techniques into
the ring. I have worked from home for the last 10 years so some of these won't
be suitable for a corporate environment.

\- Start immediately, as soon as you get to your work environment. For me that
means no breakfast, no coffee etc... until one function/problem/failing unit
test/something is done. Since I'm at home when I wake up I get dressed then go
straight to the computer and open my editor and start working. This gets me in
the mood straight from the beginning of the day.

\- I find getting into the Zone is often really about finding the next task to
complete. Leaving work on your local machine with a failing unit test or
compiler error helps is a good way to give you defined task to complete next
time.

\- If the environment is noisy and headphones are necessary, music without
lyrics. I tend to like trance or orchestral movie and game soundtracks.

\- If it's not part of what you want to accomplish don't check your email
until after you are already running out of steam. Reading and answering emails
is easy enough work but usually completely kills any flow I have or at least
fills my head with information not helpful to the task at hand. Same goes for
any instant messaging etc...

\- In much the same vein disable the internet for a while, I've never been
more productive than when I was on an overseas day flight.

\- People are distractions too, late nights (when I was in my early 20s) and
early mornings (nowadays) are productivity's friends.

\- Don't visit sites like HN until after work is finished. Hard to do but is
knowing that "Company X releases/is bought by Y" ASAP going to help you work
in any way?

\- Finally (Work from home/self owned businesses only) if you're not feeling
it, call it a day and do something else/go out have fun. If you're anything
like me, by giving yourself a break you'll make up for it in productivity
later.

~~~
cykho
These are awesome tips! I like silence the best for focus (less cognitive load
the better). These have been a godsend:
[http://www.amazon.com/3M-Peltor-H10A-Optime-
Earmuff/dp/B0000...](http://www.amazon.com/3M-Peltor-H10A-Optime-
Earmuff/dp/B00009LI4K/) Basically just your basic noise blocking headphones.
For extra blockage insert earbuds under them. Sublime silence.

~~~
raamdev
I'm not sure why it never occurred to me to get an inexpensive pair of
earmuffs designed specifically for blocking out sound ($20), as opposed to a
really expensive pair of reference-class headphones ($200+). Most of the time
I just want to block out sound. And when I want music, I can probably put in
my comfy earbuds and put the earmuffs over them. Thanks for the idea!

------
phillmv
Routines.

Flaubert once said, "Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be
violent and original in your work."

Go to bed at roughly the same time. Get up at roughly the same time. Eat
breakfast (prevents sugar crashes later in the day). Do some light exercise
when you get out of bed (7 min workout, holla) and then meditate. Do actually
intense exercise once or twice a week. Snack a few hours after your lunch.

Take care of your body and keep it prepared for the work you have ahead of
you.

When you get to work, plan out the rest of your day. Write down what you
intend to do (you get a lot better with being realistic with this list) and
split it out. Don't open HN while you wait for your tests to run. Timebox
everything else.

Also, take regular breaks. Get up, stretch, go for a walk, read for a bit.

Procrastination I find is closely linked to mood, so make sure you've taken
care of that as well.

I do 80% of the above and I still have procrastination spirals but it's gotten
a lot better.

~~~
Gravityloss
What do you do while your tests run? :)

~~~
phillmv
Ideally, you find other short tasks that you needed to get done but in
practice I keep a New Yorker or a book by my desk.

Less likely to only come to my senses half an hour and 8 tabs later ;).

~~~
raamdev
I'm at the HN and "8 tabs later" stage. Thanks for the reminder. Back to work!

------
edw519
This is so important and comes up so often that I now have a boilerplate
answer from:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=191275](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=191275)

and also #49 here:

[http://v25media.s3.amazonaws.com/edw519_mod.pdf](http://v25media.s3.amazonaws.com/edw519_mod.pdf)

 __*

The single most important thing I do to "achieve laser focus and
concentration" is to work in such a way that I don't need "laser focus and
concentration" to get my work done.

This has to be done the night before.

I always quit all online work at least 2 hours before bedtime and print
whatever I'm working on.

Then I go into any other room with program listings, blank paper, and pens
(especially red!) and plan out all of tomorrow's work.

All analysis, design, and refactoring must be done at this time. I do not
allow myself to sleep until the next day's work is laid out. I also do not
allow myself to get back onto the computer. The idea is to have a clear
"vision" of what I am going to accomplish the next day. The clearer the
better.

This does 2 things. First, I think about it all night (maybe even dream about
it). Second, I can't wait to get started the next day.

I always wake up and start programming immediately. Once I get going, it's
easy to keep going. Any difficulties are probably because I didn't plan well
enough the night before.

------
eli
Keep in mind you're asking for advice on staying focused on a forum that many
people visit to avoid doing their work...

That said, I like [https://www.rescuetime.com/](https://www.rescuetime.com/)
which tracks time spent on distracting vs productive tasks. It's hardly
perfect, but it helps "keep me honest" to know I can run a report to see
exactly how much time I spend reading junk online instead of working.

------
niuzeta
When I was in university I had a serious problem with concentration and being
"in-and-out" of the zone. So for two years I made an effort to have something
chewing in my mouth(started with candies, then pen, and after a couple of
unfortunate blasting incidents-coffee stirring rods) whenever I was 'in the
zone' or about to be.

After a while, I've been conditioned to be "in the zone" on cue by chewing on
a coffee stirring rod. it works about 50~70% of the time, and I have to be not
tired at all. It's good to have it invoked on cue, though. I find drinking
coffee in general not helping; caffeine is great in getting hufed up for a
short duration, but I try not to consume more than two cups a week.

Addendum: A sad side-effect was that now I cannot seem to have meals without
being mentally engaged - be it reading or conversing.

~~~
a8da6b0c91d
There's no reason to avoid caffeine. It's a very stress protective substance.
Coffee with a little bit of sugar is a great way to sustain concentration far
longer than you otherwise could. If one is adapted to it, it does not make one
jittery.

Another lesser known chemical trick is aspirin. Aspirin boosts energy, mood,
and concentration. Some days I down nearly three grams. I find it works
synergistically with coffee.

~~~
niuzeta
One of my co-worker _and_ one of my friends drink at least three cups of
coffee in the morning _alone_ to get the day started. The chemical tolerance
they've built up scared me off.

------
malanj
I'd highly recommend that you research "Flow":
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_\(psychology\)).
There's a great book by Csíkszentmihályi on the topic also called "Flow".
Basically Csíkszentmihályi figured out what the "zone" actually is, what
stimulates it and how it leads to productivity and happiness.

~~~
snide
I've heard this guy on NPR and other radio programs promoting his book. While
I find the subject fascinating I get distracted by his marketing buzzspeak and
branding. Specifically that he dubs his concept "Flow" when it's been more
commonly known as "in the zone" for decades. I could come to no reasoning
other than his need for a new brandable term. Not a big deal I guess, but
overall undermined the work to me.

Having read the book is there something I'm missing in that guess?

~~~
andrewl
I don't know if the term _flow_ came before _in the zone_ , but it has been in
use for decades. Csikszentmihalyi published a book called _Beyond Boredom and
Anxiety: Experiencing Flow in Work and Play_ in 1975.

~~~
0161
The OED has a draft entry (2002) for "in the zone" that says its origins are
chiefly US sport. Its earliest citation is a 1976 San Francisco Chronicle
article about tennis:

 _Tennis players speak reverently of the mystical atmospheric condition known
as ‘The Zone’ Passing shots chip away at the lines, first serves pop in and
mistakes simply don 't materialize._

The next citation is from 1990, and refers to the more general creative sense.

 _Performers, surgeons, or creative artists..find that most important parts of
their lives occur when they are ‘in the zone’._

Source is the New Age Journal. Notice how it is no longer capitalised.

------
codyb
I find the hardest part to be starting. If I can sit and focus even for five
or ten minutes I'll be good to go for a while. But if I never start, or start
and drag myself to hackernews, then fark.com, then check my text messages, and
e-mails, then check my bank account and pay bills. Well, it's quite obvious I
get nothing done. Then I decide I'm tired and go to bed. I've been relatively
stressed mentally recently having gone through a really tough break up which
left me relatively distraught and emotionally stunted, starting my first full
time job as an application developer, and starting grad school with two
classes which I take in the evenings. I've been close to really screwing up
grad school, felt the stress during my days at work, and resulted to alcohol
and drugs to feel okay on weekends. Lately I've calmed down. And although I've
got quite a bit of work to do before I'm fully qualified to pass my courses,
my work productivity has gone up, and I've set a goal to sit every day and do
even a little coding. What's making it exciting is I'm learning all of Java's
new features which makes me feel confident about bringing them to work when we
switch on up to Java 8 and just making any progress actually makes me excited
to start coding the next day. So anyways, that's my personal story about
losing my ability to get in the zone and finding it by dismissing the
relatively overwhelming aspects of my position and just trying to start and
get anything done.

(It might also help I just bought a MacBook Pro which I'm really enjoying
developing on).

------
mentos
I've been very fortunate that the flow gods have allowed me to have a very
productive month. It definitely has to do with the fact that I'm staying at my
parents house all alone babysitting their dog while I work from home. I've had
0 distractions save for the mailman and I've put up some good numbers.

I'd say the best thing you can do is eliminate all distractions and block out
large swaths of time to work. I took yesterday to do all of my menial tasks
such as filing taxes, getting proof of insurance for a ticket, dealt with a
verizon phone bill, etc. With all that out of the way, I find it easier to
'free your mind' and focus. Unfortunately I haven't fallen into gear yet
naturally so I'm going to try to jump start my engine by just forcing my hand
to work. Once you get in motion its easier to stay in motion.

------
theboss
Mental Strategies? None. I just start working. I force myself to get started.
Once you start, you're halfway done.

Now once you've started. Don't stop. This may seem obvious but prepare by
using the restroom or getting a glass of water beforehand.

Once you've been working for a while, usually >20 minutes, you're in the zone.
Congratulations. Don't award yourself. You can go to the bathroom, get more
water, but make sure you're getting back to work. If you sense yourself
getting off task, X THAT WINDOW! AND FOCUS! It's as easy as that.

It also helps to be challenging yourself. If you're working on some stupid
project that an 11th grader could do then I don't know how you get in the
zone. Hard problems take more dedicated concentration which makes diving in
the hard part and staying in very easy.

------
gopalv
People say music. But I think it's just an exercise in programming yourself -
it won't be immediate.

[http://notmysock.org/blog/2005/Oct/17/](http://notmysock.org/blog/2005/Oct/17/)

Oh and lots of sleep.

I sleep 8 hours or so and wake up with a lamp next to my bed triggered to turn
on 1 hour before I need to wake up.

You really have to keep your body out the way of your mind. I eat far less
food when I want to get into the zone.

I take a step up and walk about every 50 minutes or so. 10 minutes of walking
around every hour, just to keep my eyes from hurting - used to play pool alone
when my office had a table.

I can hang around 10+ hours in the zone that way.

But I get about 4 days of that a month, the rest are just 4 hour work-days (2
hours + 2 hours uninterrupted).

------
getpost
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is the guy to read on flow. Try his book, "Finding
Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life"

Not exactly on your point, but here he is on video
[http://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow/](http://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow/)

For a different approach, try this article, 'Your Never-ending (and Needless)
Pursuit of “the Zone”' 1) You are living in the feeling of your thinking—whose
quality is constantly in flux. 2) negative thoughts (actually, all thoughts)
are random, neutral, and powerless 3) simply stay in the game.

edit: Never ending pursuit link link added [http://garretkramer.com/your-
never-ending-and-needless-pursu...](http://garretkramer.com/your-never-ending-
and-needless-pursuit-of-the-zone/)

edit2: The video does offer one response to your question, especially when he
discusses the chart that appears at 15:28. Adjust arousal and control to home
in on the flow state.

------
adamb_
Ask this question again during off-work hours. The workday just started in the
states and it's likely that all the _masters_ of productivity are too focused
getting their work done to answer. :)

------
marc0
When I was still working in science I got into this state regularly (I called
it "the Flow" since I felt like surfing on some kind of mental wave). When I
joined a company I lost that experience at first, until I got to work on some
sophsticated problems, and until I learned to decouple me from the
environment. At university that was no problem, but at a company there are
more restrictions in place (more or less fixed working hours, working
environment, telephone, internal chat, meetings etc).

My strategy is to create a temporary environment which isolates you -- not
necessarily in a physical way. No emails, no meetings, no talking (earphones
and loud music help me much, maybe also a sign like "genius at work" \-- it's
funny but makes people understand you need to concentrate). And then there is
only you and the code, and that's your portal into the "zone" or "flow" or
whatever you want to call this meditative state.

------
andrewl
Another term for this is _flow_. The psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi has
written a lot about it. Wikipedia has a good overview at
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_\(psychology\)).

------
Denzel
It's very difficult to get "in the zone," if you're not working on something
that is inherently meaningful to you. You could move bricks all day, work 8
hours straight, and become the best brick mover around, but I doubt you'd
consider yourself locked in during that time. Your mind is probably wandering
to other topics of interest; distracting you from the actual task.

If you want to get in the zone: find a meaningful task, or allow the given
task to take on meaning for you.

------
jcampbell
I've struggled with procrastination for years, and a few months ago started
using Jerry Seinfeld's "Don't Break the Chain" method[1]. This works for me:

\- Prep: Define my chain goals in a spreadsheet (like "work on project A at
least one hour per day") with a row for each day to track the chain.

\- Execution: As soon as I sit down at the computer, start up a timer to track
my work that is visible running right there below my screen, put on my
headphones, and listen to Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain" on continuous loop.

\- Wrapup: Whenever I'm done working, log the time in my spreadsheet and mark
the X to keep the chain going.

Something about the timer running and the song playing just kicks me into
gear. Usually after the first ten minutes or so, I'm in the zone pretty
solidly and can even switch playlists if I'm so inclined (don't usually bother
though because I'm usually just focused on the task at that point).

The key is just starting and then the positive inertia takes over. So even if
I only need to do 30 minutes to satisfy the chain, it usually lasts at least a
couple hours once I'm on a roll.

[1][http://lifehacker.com/281626/jerry-seinfelds-productivity-
se...](http://lifehacker.com/281626/jerry-seinfelds-productivity-secret)

------
unclebucknasty
Everyone's mileage will vary, of course, but I notice a lot of advice around
mental preparation, how to think about your work, etc.

Some great tips. But, for me, at least some of becoming productive has to do
with _not_ doing a lot of meta-thinking about my work. For instance, the more
I think about a start time, how to start, etc., the more likely I am to just
keep thinking about it vs _doing_ something.

The same is true for hitting the gym too. If I take time off for whatever
reason and say, "I'm going to start again Monday" or similar, then I am less
likely to do it. Instead, I have to just get up, put on my workout gear and
go. In fact, it's like I have to do it as _mindlessly_ as possible.

There just seems to be something about planning, talking, and thinking about
things that keeps me in a passive mode of inaction. I think that mode is
decidedly "out of the zone".

Also, along the lines of thinking too much, I read somewhere a while back that
we spend too much time thinking about how we _feel_ about things. The question
posed was "what does that have to do with anything?", which struck me as very
true. Sometimes things just are and we have to deal with it. That includes
getting work done. I know that if I whine and complain to myself about not
feeling like doing the work, it gives me license to slack off.

So now I try to refrain from putting so much energy into thinking about how I
feel and instead redirect that energy to just getting the work done. Not
always easy, but a prerequisite for being productive at all, let alone
approaching the zone.

------
orky56
You're definitely not alone. It goes by different names, energy, motivation,
attention but in the end it's something we need more of to get everything
done. Here's an ordered checklist of how to improve your situation
([https://www.quora.com/Life-Advice/What-are-some-effective-
wa...](https://www.quora.com/Life-Advice/What-are-some-effective-ways-to-
lengthen-attention-span))

One way to beat this system is through pacing. This is by working towards
short breaks ([https://medium.com/the-productive-
self/7bdf1f026431](https://medium.com/the-productive-self/7bdf1f026431)) or
towards time limits to prevent procrastination
([https://medium.com/p/ee13c1600b6b](https://medium.com/p/ee13c1600b6b)). I
wrote these posts after hearing about these situations again and again. I am
currently working on Catalist, a tool that effectively deals with these
situations of task and flow management
([http://signup.catalist.me/](http://signup.catalist.me/)).

------
adrianhoward
This is what works for me. YMMV:

* Have some external metric that you trust to judge success. Because if you're like me you're internal "sense" of what is productive or not is often wrong. I know my 10 hour long in-zone hacking sessions are _way_ less productive than my four hour well-rested in-zone hacking sessions - no matter how neat they might feel - because I see my delivery-rate drop.

* Get enough sleep (for me, 8 or 9 hours a night).

* Do a sane amount of "work" each day (for me, if I try and code for more than 6 hours a day I see my performance drop).

* Block out time. I have chunks of my day set aside for coding, pair working, reading, etc.

* Don't track time - track off-task interruptions. Keep track of whatever interrupts your N hours off coding (or whatever). Work at preventing those interruptions in future. If you're on a team be broad in your interpretation of "off task" \- because your job is to optimise everybody's productivity - not just yours.

* Have rituals / an environment for work (when I sit in this chair at this time I am in work mode.)

* For coding I've found TDD to be a _really_ effective way for me to get into the zone. Especially if I leave myself a failing test. It's got that intermittent reward cycle that's just crack for the brain.

* When I have trouble focussing I find something like Pomodoro Technique ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique)) a way to trick myself into the zone. I can "force" myself to focus for "just 25 minutes". And after a loop or two it just clicks.

------
grownseed
Contrarily to a lot of comments here, I don't do much exercise, I don't eat
particularly well more often than not, nor do I sleep much. That said, I'm
sure a healthy lifestyle does probably help to an extent, and it's definitely
not a bad thing generally speaking.

In my case however, this is definitely not what helps me "get and stay in the
zone", or concentrating as people used to call it.

The first thing, which I guess is not that easily replicable, is that I used
to be fully deaf, and I can get myself in that state of mind pretty much
whenever I want to. It's basically turning some sort of autism switch on and
off, which essentially involves removing yourself from your environment. I
know a lot of meditation can eventually get you to the same point.

The other thing which probably sounds really obvious is staying motivated. I
always have several tasks on the go so I try to break them down into less/more
interesting tasks. When your motivation is high, go for the least interesting
tasks, when you start feeling your motivation getting low, pick one of the
more interesting tasks.

I think it's also down to work habits and experience. I've worked crazy,
intense hours in my life, simply because I didn't have a choice. The more you
do it, the more you don't want to do it, so the amount of time you can spend
un-distracted in one go will slowly increase.

One final tip, which is probably going to sound stupid to most people, is
keeping rhythm. I play a lot of music and I constantly feel/hear a rhythm in
everything. When I occasionally find my mind going idle, I remind myself of
the ambient rhythm (tap my fingers together and whatnot). I see my mind going
idle as being out of sync in an orchestra, if that makes any sense.

------
fistofjohnwayne
What I do seems a little different than most of the answers here.

First, I take the normal step of laying out the tasks for the day into small
chunks: bugs, pieces of a feature, whatever. I put them in a format that I can
easily check off as I work.

Once I'm ready to work I put my over-ear headphones on and crank up something
with a beat. It needs to be loud enough that it's all I can hear. I use a
standing desk which means...

I start to dance around a little. It looks something like this, only less
cool:
[http://youtu.be/jECu2MZsrmE?t=16m50s](http://youtu.be/jECu2MZsrmE?t=16m50s)

I'm not sure why this works for me. I could speculate about my mind/body
getting into at rhythm so that even when I break focus on a task to wait for a
compile or a test I'm able to jump right back in without... Missing a beat.

As I check off the tasks I prepared I feel more like I'm shouting for the DJ
to play one more song than a dude working to complete tasks for his corporate
overlords. I only discovered this about myself in the last few months when I
switched to a standing desk. Changed my life!

------
ctdonath
Eliminate the tension of knowing interruptions may happen. Greatest
productivity is after 4PM on a day I can work late, when everyone else is
heading out or gone, and there is no looming anticipation of someone/something
interfering. It's like finding an open road, straight, dry, and no chance of
surprises rolling into your path: just floor it and _go_.

------
honksillet
I don't program in my 9 to 5, but I do program _a lot_ in my free time.
Recently I have noticed how my programming patterns have at time been been
bipolar. Bipolar as in period of Mania (hyper-productivity, coding late into
the night) followed by periods of depression (lapse of complete inactivity).
(Note my mood isn't depressed, just my productivity, although I think I do
feel happier during the "manic" parts.) This is a very poor pattern to get
into. I think the key is to even it metaphorically take so Lithium and even it
out. * Don't stay up late, get good sleep, don't sleep in. * Regular diet.
Regular exercise. * Just before bed, make a _mental_ list of what you think
needs to be done tomorrow. * Human contact daily. Don't go hide in your bat
cave.

We have all experience the zone but if you over do it you will go Manic and
then burn out. Your goal should be consistent, sustainable productivity and
not mania.

------
zupa-hu
When you find yourself not jumping onto a task, the task is unclear. Break it
down instead of solving it. Break it down until it takes so little effort that
you would actually rather finish it than break it down further.

-planning the day in advance. Planning between tasks incurs HUGE overhead.

-isolate yourself from distraction

-declare goal in terms of whats-in-it-for-me

-list things to do, write down (.txt / post-it)

-iterate on breaking down

-only do work if you can not break it down further

-measure time

I found the biggest waste is not in working slowly but between blocks of work.
Include them in your next task's log. Log time every time you finish a task.
Guesstimate time when breaking down a day/task, log time when finished.
Improve.

I found being in a flow is different from being extremely productive. Being in
a flow only guarantees high concentration. It doesn't verify that you are
moving in the right direction. Regularly breaking down tasks and iterating on
breaking them down gives you a habit of refocusing.

------
feralmoan
For me it helps taking short breaks from one problem (like, ~20 mins every
couple of hours) to lay the foundations for tackling the next problem, drawing
diagrams, doing some research and letting a project 'normalize' conceptually.
Small context shifts kind of count as 'breaks' (to me, anyway) Its much easier
to get into the zone when everything already fits into place and you have a
clear purpose, than having to battle with minutae frustrations and rollbacks
of badly planned work sprints. I think if you just rush into a problem it
creates a kind of impedence mismatch between your expectations of productivity
and what's realistically possible and kills the mojo. So be Zen. Take ya time
and do it well :D

... and if you get your meetings and lunch done and behind you by 1130am
that's like 6 hours of a straight working afternoon with no planned
interruptions :D

------
nsfyn55
I like to keep a running TODO list in a vim buffer or in OSX's notes app, or
evernote. I check off every little thing that I do. As things come to mind I
add them to the list. This keeps me from getting overwhelmed. Once I finish
something the next step is clear. Go to the TODO list and choose the next
item.

------
jonnydark
I tend to try and avoid "the zone" because I'll often find I'm holding too
many ideas in my head rather than in the code and as such I'm not expressing
myself well in code.

I used to come across code I'd written while in the zone later and have a hard
time figuring out what I was doing/thinking. As such I end up with poor
variable name choices and weird hard to follow algorithms that all made sense
at the time but are a maintenance issue after the fact.

When you're programming in the zone, you're programming at your peak
cleverness. I'm reminded of the Brian Kernighan quote - "Debugging is twice as
hard as writing the code in the first place. Therefore, if you write the code
as cleverly as possible, you are, by definition, not smart enough to debug
it."

------
corywright
Listening to Live Phish always gets my brain in gear:

    
    
      1. http://www.livephish.com/
      2. http://www.phishtracks.com/
    

With Live Phish (non-studio stuff) you get some very long jams with minimal
lyrics and long riffs. For some reason this really jump starts my
productivity.

For a good one listen to the famous "Tahoe Tweezer":
[http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/2013-07-31/tweezer](http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/2013-07-31/tweezer)

Also, check out Marco Arment's "Geek Intro to Phish":
[http://www.marco.org/2011/05/26/geek-intro-to-
phish](http://www.marco.org/2011/05/26/geek-intro-to-phish)

------
incision
White noise and Pomodoro.

That said, I think learning how to start quickly be productive through
consistency beats the hell out of chasing the zone. An hour, or even 20
minutes a day, every day or damn near it as opposed to multi-hour binges when
the stars align.

~~~
elwell
Pink > White

------
betadreamer
In general I realized that my mind is full of distraction. I want to play
games, go on HN, maybe facebook, look at stock, etc...

For me the key to be in the zone is to turn off my internet and force myself
to do one small step. If I am coding, I force myself to write 1 line. If I am
designing, I force myself to design one small part of the page.

But once I finish the small step I realized that I am not satisfied by my work
and next thing I know, I am coding/designing the whole feature.

After I get in this zone and I need the internet for answers, I turn it on but
don't get distracted. By that time, I'm too paranoid to finish my task!

------
pepon
Instrumental "fast rhythm" music (i.e. Apocalyptica, Ludovico Einaudi...)

~~~
at-fates-hands
This.

No rap or hip-hop though, that's too distracting. If I want to sink down, shut
out everybody and get into the "flow" like someone said before, it has to be
vocal trance for me. I mean, they call it "trance" music for a reason:

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trance_music](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trance_music)

"A trance refers to a state of hypnotism and lessened consciousness. This
drifting sensation is portrayed in the genre by mixing many layers and rhythms
to create build and release."

Once you find a genre that works for you (mine is vocal trance), you can
literally shut everybody out and have that laser focus for long periods of
time. It's a borderline ASC - Altered State of Consciousness.

------
equalarrow
For me it's pretty simple.

1\. No distractions or interruptions. That includes a clean desk, no
interruptions (closed door is preferable).

2\. Comfortable chair and desk. You'll need something that you can sit in for
extended periods of time.

3\. Big container of water. I don't chug this, I sip. Your brain needs
hydration, but I don't too much at one time as that forces bathroom breaks.

To preface all this, I usually always make sure I start as early as I can,
have some coffee, and food. Before kids, I would usually do 6a-10a straight.
Now, I can do an hour or so straight before I'm interrupted.

And, of course, stay away from HN and other news sites.

------
BorisMelnik
Thank you for these suggestions, this is causing major strife in my life at
the present time.

I have had a really hard time with this over the past 6 months. I have plenty
of time to work, but when I sit down I have a very hard time focusing on the
task at hand. I find myself working on other tasks that aren't a priority. The
days when I have 100 small things to do are the worst. Logging into a server
to change one line of code on 5 different servers is so scary to me.

I am really at the point now where my life is getting unmanageable due to my
schedule and lack of focus and I need to make a change.

------
jacquesm
It's not exactly a mental strategy but earphones just loud enough to block out
the surrounding sounds with music that I know totally by heart (and without
vocals) seems to be the best way for me.

------
tambourmajor
* Subscribe to [http://www.hndigest.com/](http://www.hndigest.com/)

* Eat healthy.

* Expose yourself to a lot of sunlight.

* Use F.lux and wear blue light blocking safety glasses after sunset to prevent melatonin secretion suppression.

* Meet people at least every other day.

* Get a treadmill and a standing desk ($300 + $300).

* Get a sitting ball ($20).

* Have two monitors connected to your computer so that you can quickly switch between treadmill and sitting ball.

* Always have a notepad and a pen on your desk to be able to quickly postpone thoughts and tasks.

* Never write down TODOs that take less than 3 mintues, do them right away.

* Only do one thing at a time.

------
arca_vorago
I call it "my groove" or "plugged-in", and it's not something I can force. I
notice it generally involves two things, the first being the standard from
most replies, which is music, and the second is that I am working on a problem
that I enjoy working on or if I'm not enjoying it I see the problem as a
challenge. If I am failing at making progress though, it will quickly fall
through, it's the momentum of being awesome that compounds. The same is true
in the games I play to let off steam.

------
markovbling
Being in the zone (lots of energy, ideas, inspiration, optimism, focus) is
really a vague description for when your body is functioning optimally.

People who are depressed are given SSRIs (selective seratonin reuptake
inhibitors) because your mood is largely governed by the levels of seratonin
available in your brain. Similarly, your focus / "motivation" / "drive" is
largely determined by dopamine. Acetylcholine, another neurotransmitter, is
described by Wikipedia as having the key function of "responsiveness to
sensory stimuli, a form of attention". The neurotransmitter GABA is commonly
referred to as the "relaxatory neurotransmitter" \- the one released when you
do yoga or meditate.

The levels of these neurotransmitters are affected by what you're eating (and
your body's ability to process what you're eating in terms of your baseline
metabolic rate, digestive ecology etc.), how much exercise you're getting,
what you're doing and even the thoughts you're having themselves.

So, in my opinion at least, you could equate "being in the zone" with having
all your neurotransmitter levels and other body mechanisms functioning at
their "optimal" levels. What complicates this is that "optimal" is person-
specific. So a person who is "out of the zone" and very lethargic could make
themselves more "in the zone" by taking steps to raise their dopamine levels
whereas someone who is "out of the zone" because they're too over-active could
become more "in the zone" by raising their GABA levels and bringing more
"calm" to their life.

Raising your levels of a particular neurotransmitter can be done directly or
indirectly. For example, you can raise your levels of the relaxatory
neurotransmitter GABA by drinking green tea which is high in theanine which is
the amino acid which your brain uses to make more GABA. Alternatively, and
more interestingly to me, is that your actions affect your neurotransmitter
levels too. For example, see the link below to a study concluding that a
"12-week yoga intervention was associated with greater improvements in mood
and anxiety than a metabolically matched walking exercise. This is the first
study to demonstrate that increased thalamic GABA levels are associated with
improved mood and decreased anxiety."
[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20722471](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20722471)

I can't really substantiate this and it might very well sound like hippie
bullshit but I honestly feel that there are ways to live your life that are
better than others. For example, I think it would be difficult to argue that
you feel better if you spend the day outside than if you stay inside sitting
at a desk in an air-conditioned office. Of course, you can point to increased
vitamin D being correlated to improved mood etc. but I think we all have an
instinct that certain activities are "good" for you (in the sense that they
help you become more "in the zone").

I've found the following to help move me more in alignment of "being in the
zone" and move my neurotransmitter levels in the directions of "where they
should be" for me to be in the zone: * 15 minutes of yoga every morning

* Omega 3, vitamin D and a solid multivitamin every day

* 40 minutes of intense cardio 3x per week (7-10km run)

* compound functional weights training (squats, deadlifts, pullups, etc.) for 40min 3x per week

* cut out sodas and drink at least 2.5 litres of water daily

* try not eat heavy meals at night (your digestion goes to sleep when the sun goes down) - eat your main meal in the middle of the day when your digestion is strongest

* cut out allergens (milk, nuts, wheat) and add them back slowly because you could very well be perpetually functioning beneath your optimal simply because your body is constantly in an allergic response state

* green smoothies every second day (kale, broccoli, spinach, bananas, ginger, coconut oil)

* 20 minutes mindfulness meditation daily

* listen to good music

* smile

:)

~~~
glittershark
+1 for the allergens - best thing I ever did for my overall mental health was
realize I was gluten intolerant

------
matt__rose
1\. Always maintain a TODO list. I usually have it as part of the README for
the project I'm working on, after that...

Just open up the editor and start coding. Pick something off that list, and
hammer away at it. It may suck, but just keep going, re-write it, pick
something else on your todo list, but keep going. The secret is: There is no
"zone", there's hard work, and perseverance. The "zone" is just a figment of
your imagination.

------
lionesscg
Every Sunday I create a week schedule where everything I have to do during the
week is included. I start by setting week goals and build the rest
accordingly. Keeping in mind the next task and everything you have to
accomplish throughout the day helps keeping focused. Oh and by the way I also
believe that loving and believing in what you are doing is the key to stay in
the zone.

------
martinrue
I wrote my thoughts up on this subject a while ago here:
[http://martinrue.com/posts/6/what-is-the-zone-
anyway](http://martinrue.com/posts/6/what-is-the-zone-anyway). I make the case
for 'the zone' being a state that comes from really thinking about what you're
doing and simply knowing how to start (and continue).

------
joeld42
\- routine

\- habit

\- music (headphones)

\- get started

One thing that really helped me is to just "go through the motions" a few
times when I sit down. I will literally compile/run a few times only changing
a comment or adding a blank line and then removing it. Not only does it help
my laptop "warm up" and swap in the pages it needs to compile quickly, it
helps me get into the edit/compile/test cycle.

------
eitland
A few ideas:

\- starting a block with something you will be happy for doing later.

\- but also building momentum by starting on smaller tasks

\- sometimes and for some people and some tasks hacks like pomodoro
(basically: the next 25 minutes I will not do anything but this particular
thing I have decided. Then and only then I will stop and decide what to do
next.)

-"auto focus" is also a winner sometimes

------
Nizumzen
Music and being up late when no one else is around do the trick for me. I find
if I try and work during the day on anything that requires real concentration
then I end up being distracted by everyday things. This is probably bad advice
though as having a natural sleeping pattern is important but I do find it
helps me.

------
Consultant32452
Step 1: Go home Step 2: Work on something that interests me

My home work environment is set up with minimal active distractions (no
coworkers, no TV in sight, etc.). Working on something I'm interested in
causes me to naturally ignore more passive distractions such as messing with
my phone, doodling, etc.

------
brickcap
For me it's discipline. I train my mind to work on a particular time and it
has become accustomed to be in the zone at that time. Not all sessions are
equally productive (some times I don't get much done) but they are progressive
none the less (I am always doing something).

------
saurabh
Try this:

[http://www.di.fm/goapsy/‎](http://www.di.fm/goapsy/‎)

[http://www.di.fm/progressivepsy‎/](http://www.di.fm/progressivepsy‎/)

------
CatsoCatsoCatso
Rather pathetically, a large bottle of Coca Cola under the desk and a pint
glass to guzzle it down with. The same sugar downing tactic also works for
getting quick at CoD, heh.

------
cglee
1) Put on headphones, listen to music without lyrics (or in language that I
don't understand). 2) Close browser and email client and open code/text
editor.

------
hipsters_unite
Two words: post rock.

~~~
at-fates-hands
Long Distance Calling.

------
maxgaudin
Focus at Will helps me a lot
[https://www.focusatwill.com/](https://www.focusatwill.com/)

------
rubiquity
Music actually takes me out of the zone. I find getting a small victory early
keeps me motivated to keep going.

------
encoderer
[http://www.focusatwill.com](http://www.focusatwill.com)

~~~
honksillet
I'm interested to try this but the free trial should not be hidden behind a
signup wall. I bet this drives away 90% of potential users.

------
zcase
Judging from Secret, a lot of them snort Adderall.

------
RankingMember
Yerba Mate, silence, and interesting work

------
dredmorbius
A perennial topic of discussion among creative people.

Your issue with distractions is almost certainly a negative. Sometimes you've
simply got to face those head-on. It's very, _very_ difficult to handle both
these _and_ creative work. A sense of fatality about whatever's causing the
distractions may help -- there's something to be said about Ashleigh
Brilliant's "I feel much better now that I've given up hope".

Csikszentmihalyi's book _Flow_ is probably the canonical reference. Read it.
He's also appeared in multiple interviews (I encountered him a couple of
decades back during a long road trip through the back country, it was a
wonderfully serendipitous discovery).

I also listen to numerous interviews with authors, musicians, artists, and
similar creative types, including occasionally scientific researchers. I'm
finding these to be increasingly interesting with time. The task of getting
yourself into a state to allow creativity or problem-solving to emerge is one
shared with many others.

As for my own observations:

• Routine helps. Having a regular "beat" to my day provides structure.

• Recognizing my own limits and rhythms is key. As I posted elsewhere in this
thread, there are many forms of physical exercise and fitness practices. For
many of them, a relatively brief training period (as few as 4 minutes,
generally up to an hour or two, rarely more) provides optimal benefits. Rest
and recovery are esssential. I'm finding similar patterns in mental tasks:
there's only so long I can remain focused.

• Removing distractions and concerns helps greatly. At their best, academic
environments are almots coddling in their embrace, and allow freedom from
immediate concerns to explore and analyze topics in depth. Many corporate or
government research environments similarly remove these concerns. Frank
Herbert's _Dune_ includes the litany against fear: "I must not fear. Fear is
the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I
will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when
it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has
gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain." I see _stress_ as the mind-
killer, and its negative influence on creativity and flow is legion. Mind:
_short-term_ pressure can lead to focus, but chronic stress is an absolute
disaster.

• Engagement with the problem at hand and belief in the mission helps greatly.
Among my frustrations with present tech trends is that much of the work is
what David Graeber calls bullshit jobs: [http://www.strikemag.org/bullshit-
jobs/](http://www.strikemag.org/bullshit-jobs/) I've expressed those
frustrations here on HN more than once, and have been working for the past two
years on my own response to this. A key problem is that non-bullshit jobs and
compensation tend to be inversely correlated. Working for something I don't
believe in, however, is ultimately as destructive as chronic stress (and is
likely a form of it).

• Creating an environment in which you can work without distractions and which
is filled with calming influences helps greatly. I'm fortunate to have a space
of my own, a physically comforatale environment (not too hot, not too cold,
good lighting, excellent seating), free from interruptions. I've found myself
listening almost exclusively to classical music, and avoiding (at least for
much of the day) news programming. I avoid virtually all contact with
advertising, which I find has a tremendously negative influence.

John Cleese's presentation creativity is another I've found insightful. In
particular, he points to the role of humor in creativity: it's the brain's
response to surprise (or one of them), and may exist in part to help us be
aware of a novel circumstance or phenomenon, one which might prove useful to
us. It drops our mental defenses against novelty.

[http://fixyt.com/watch?v=AU5x1Ea7NjQ](http://fixyt.com/watch?v=AU5x1Ea7NjQ)

I won't claim to have licked the problem -- it's a process, not a product. But
I've made a great deal of progress in exploring ideas and issues that I'd been
wanting to look at for years or decades. And it absolutely makes me all but
positive that many trends in business and workplace practices are very highly
counterproductive for creatives: open-plan offices, communications overload,
business-faddism in general, brainstorming, constant progress reports and
evaluation, punitive consequences, lack of opportunity for professional
development, treatment of employees as disposable, and badly broken evaluation
metrics (themselves a characteristic of trying to assess quality of a complex
domain, see Pirsig's _Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance_ , which I've
been revisiting.

