Flow!
You’ve probably heard talk of “flow”, and you may recognize that you’ve been “in the zone” at particular times. Flow is a blissful state of complete immersion where creativity abounds, time falls away, and judgment is non-existent. We all know it emerges for certain people during periods of creative expression—but it can also occur for anyone, and during any activity. You may even experience it when practicing scales or performing a song you’ve played 1,000 times.
Once we’ve tasted that experience, we only want more. Fortunately, there are things we can do to encourage or trigger it.
Distractions, External and Internal
The predominant quality of flow is focus, and the simplest and possibly most important way to set yourself up for that is to minimize distractions. Take stock of both your external and internal environments and begin to notice how they impact you. External distractions will be obvious—noisy neighbors or housemates, a ringing phone, incoming texts or emails, a squeaky chair, or an uncomfortable room temperature. To achieve your most productive and satisfying practice, take steps to identify and resolve as many of these issues as possible.
A distracting internal environment may be a little trickier to track and resolve, especially if you’re not accustomed to self-witnessing. With practice, you’ll improve your ability to catch these distractions, though. Start by looking for times during your guitar practice when your thoughts begin to wander, or you feel impatient. But also know that there are other forms of distraction that though equally problematic, are more insidious. Frustration, negative self-talk, or anything that compromises the quality of your concentration and takes you off course—even just a little bit—is detrimental to your progress.
Working with these concepts is a great way to get to know yourself and your practice habits better while maximizing the fun you have with your guitar, so enjoy the process!
Stay With It
The next important thing you’ll want to know when you’re seeking flow is that it probably won’t magically appear for the first 10 or fifteen minutes of playing. Have a clear goal in mind when you pick up your guitar and make a commitment to relaxed focus. If you’re having trouble with focus, don’t beat yourself up—everybody struggles with it at times. Just make a commitment to stay with what you’re playing for at least 15 minutes. If you make this a habit, there will be times when you’ll slip into a place that feels like you could go forever. The more you stick with your commitment, the more those times will occur, and the more they will turn into flow!
What Motivates Us
We all have different reasons to play guitar, but I suspect that at the foundation of them all is the feeling we have when we’re immersed in the experience. My hope for you is plenty of good feelings! Let me know what you think—and to learn more about optimizing your practice and performance time, be sure to check out You & Your Guitar. It’s filled with learning wisdom and more!
