Find Your Flow

Research shows that our focus starts to drift at the 10-15 minute mark of a talk or lecture. In other words, our attention has a shelf life. In this podcast, Cara offers you a quick strategy to make the most of your finite attention span; a 15 minute micro-practice involving setting a clear goal around a task, and then focusing on that task in 15 minute intervals. This tool will exponentially increase effectiveness, by shifting you into your flow, your optimal state of focused attention.

Transcript

Welcome to On the Verge with Kara Bradley,

Weekly blasts of no hype advice and essential practices to settle down,

Show up and shift from crazy busy to high definition,

High voltage living.

Hey there everybody.

Thank you so much for joining me.

Today I want to talk to you about my first TEDx experience.

I wasn't on stage,

Though I hope to be sometime soon.

I was in the audience.

I attended TEDx Wilmington and watched about 12 speakers over the course of a long day present their talk.

It was fascinating to be there live and to watch people really in their game,

Presenting their expertise.

What I noticed and what I want to talk to you today was about my attention and your attention,

Perhaps.

Now TED Talks,

As you may very well know,

Are generally between 12 to 18 minutes and the founders of TED were very specific about this length of time.

They figured that 15,

About 15 minutes on average was short enough to maintain the attention of the audience,

But long enough to have a serious conversation.

And there's research that shows that students attending a lecture in a college.

This was actually done at the Chicago Medical School.

They found that our attention span as students really ranges between 10 to 15 minutes into a lecture.

We can pay attention for that long a period of time.

Well,

Who knows if that's even true.

It's basically we can sort of listen for 15,

About 15 minutes before our brain just gets tired of paying attention.

So there's a lot of research that goes behind this to say about 15 minutes is max before we need a mental break.

And I've noticed this in my own life.

I noticed this during my day with these speakers and I timed some of the talks.

And if the talks went even over,

This doesn't say a lot for my attention span,

But if the talks went over 12,

13,

14 minutes,

I found myself getting tired.

So what does that say about how we're out there working?

How we're taking on projects?

You know,

What we're demanding of ourselves or even the people that are working for us.

And so I'd like to offer you today some tools,

Actually one specific tool to helping you pay attention on purpose for an extended period of time.

And that period of time is going to be 15 minutes.

So I teach people how to train and work in flow.

Flow being this optimal state of heightened awareness where we're thinking less,

We're more focused,

We're more engaged,

We're participating more fully in whatever it is we're doing or hearing or engaging with.

And when we're in flow,

We access our potential.

We access our full capacity to do whatever it is we're doing.

So if we could break our workday down or our tasks down into 15 minute increments,

We may be able to,

And I found this in my in my own life,

To really be able to be more efficient,

More productive and more effective for those 15 minutes.

So this whole idea of just tasking or working in a task for a specific period of time in containing a task is a way is a way to trigger flow.

So I'm offering you this capacity to find your flow by containing your task in 15 minutes.

And this is what I do.

Actually,

I really,

Really do this throughout my day.

And I also train a lot of people to do this.

So when we have a clear goal,

We're going to first set a clear goal.

I'm going to give you a real simple example.

One day I was working on an email to send to my email list,

And I needed to really focus on the message that I wanted to put forth.

So I sat down to my laptop.

I turned on my phone timer for 15 minutes.

And I recognized that I had 15 minutes to get at least an outline of what it is I wanted to say.

And with that clear goal,

One outlining my email to containing my task in 15 minutes,

I was all in for 15 minutes.

My attention was fully on the task at hand.

Flow is our capacity to have this fierce focus or this intense concentration on a task for a particular period of time.

In this case,

It's 15 minutes.

Now I was able to focus for 15 minutes.

I didn't complete the task.

And that's okay.

The point isn't necessarily to get the task done in 15 minutes,

But it really is just to focus your attention to not get distracted by the the the beep on your phone or the text text message or the idea of checking out the news because there's so much in the news these days.

Or even getting up and getting water.

The idea is to stay fully focused for 15 minutes,

Knowing that after 15 minutes,

You can take a break.

So that's what I did.

I didn't complete my task.

After the 15 minutes,

I took a five minute break.

I got up,

Got a glass of water,

Stretched out,

Moved side to side,

Swung my arms around a little bit,

Sat back down,

Pressed the button on my phone for another 15 minutes and got to work.

And so as it turned out,

I needed a good half hour to get this task done.

And that's okay.

Breaking your tasks down into 15 minute increments is going to really set yourself up for being able to find that flow.

Settle down,

Set your intention,

Set your attention on the task at hand.

So 15 minute increments is a good measure of time where most of us can pay attention on purpose without getting distracted.

Find your flow in this simple way with these simple,

Simple triggers.

Set your clear goal,

Whatever it is.

Set your timer for 15 minutes.

And then what's really important is to take a break before your next 15 minute increment.

Taking the break is allowing yourself to be refreshed,

Is giving your mind a rest from the intensity of focus,

Giving your mind that time to just recover and replenish.

When you think about the 100 yard dash or any other type of anaerobic exercise,

We can't do it for more than 20,

30 seconds.

We can't sprint for that long.

And this task,

This micro practice,

What I call a micro practice,

Is a way of really concentrated effort that you can't do for more than maybe 20 minutes.

And we can't expect ourselves,

It may happen,

But we can't expect ourselves to be in full attention flow for hours and hours upon time,

Although sometimes it does happen.

But to train ourselves with a micro practice,

15 minute increments and then take a break,

It's like a 15 second sprint and then take a break and walk for a lap and then do it again.

It's interval training for your mind.

So as a mental strength coach,

I know as a physical strength coach as well,

I know that we interval training is an amazing way to get stronger.

And if we want to train our mind to pay attention on purpose in this intensely concentrated focus or flow where we are really efficient and really effective and whatever it is we're doing,

We need to train in intervals.

And so this micro practice I offer you today is just that.

Once again,

When I was at the TEDx talk,

I found my attention starting to weaken.

After even just 12 minutes.

So to use just a 15 minute average,

Which is what research shows is about the average time that we can pay attention without starting to get fatigued using that as a training tool as a mental strength training tool.

I'd love to hear how this is going for you.

Let me know.

Give it a try.

Give it a try for me.

Be an hour at work tomorrow.

Just press that timer on your phone or on your computer and get going.

By the way,

There's a great app called the Pomodoro app,

And it is all based on research and they use about 20 minutes as the increment,

Which is fine to do as well.

You can check that out and I've used that as well,

Which is super helpful.

Thank you so much for listening.

Thank you for engaging with me offline.

You can reach me at KaraBradley.

Net.

Please don't forget to check out my other podcasts and blogs and online course on Insight Timer.

And I'd love to hear from you anytime.

Let's engage.

Have a fantastic day.

Reviews

Thank you, I found this really useful and interesting and will definitely use.

This is a very well proven concept. I will admit that I have used the "pomodoro technique" which calls for 25 minute task blocks rather than 15, however the 15 minutes for at least mental tasks (some physical or repetitive tasks wod be different) seems even better as far as getting laserlike focus

Love and living the advice Cara. I use the timer for my college studies and find my mind drifts a lot less, and I am much more intentional with the time

Thank you! Am gonna try it out NOW! Having ADD and fibromyalgia, the idea of ONLY having to stay focused for 15 minute increments really sounds appealing to me and doable. This is sort of giving me permission, based on research. I thought there was something wrong with me and if i work in short bursts, I am 'stealing' from my work. I then force myself and end up either very fatigued (mentally and physically) or just giving up, procrastinating and doing things that appeal to me more. I can now use those 5 mins to incoporate light exercises, tending to that household tasks, making that personal phone call. This is a win-win, getting everything done on all levels, and not a dichotomous, all or nothing approach. Thanks for giving me permission.🤭😆. I can totally commit to 15 mins focused work. I will let you know how it goes..

EDIT: 20 November 2021.
I would just like to tell you of how this method gave my peace about my workload. Small chunks, doing the best I can. I sometimes now find myself continuing 30 minutes, but then I remember to rather take a break (then 10 mins) and doing something that gives me joy. And i know by doing it i am investing in my reservoir of avalable energy after work, i will have energy to do the school trips and to cook a loving meal. I am doing the best I can. Coupled with the change after doing your meditation on busy and letting that mindset go, i am a lot more calmer. I also do not allow others to draw me in their business, rush and time urgency. I also let go of rush and being too busy to do what really matters, especially in terms of nurturing relationships. I am extremely grateful for the practical advice. Thank you.

I'll definitely give this a go. Thank you. Love and blessings 💖 x

Thank you so much Cara!
This seems like a really great, helpful method!
I’ll try it out!

This technique sounds interesting and looking forward to giving it a try today! Thank you!

Intuitively makes a lot of sense, looking forward to trying it out, thank you

Thank you Cara for sharing this great way of working more effective. I will definitely try it out 🙏😀

Wonderful ! Thanks ! I’m going to try this with my writing and projects.

Great idea😊. Will try it tomorrow—I am working on a deadline project. Will let you know how it goes. Thank you 🙏🏻

Thanks for sharing this strategy. I usually limit my work sessions to an hour before taking a break. I'm curious to see whether shortening the time will make a difference in the quality of my projects.

🙏🙏🙏
Thank you so much I will definitely use this 15 minutes focus technique!👍🙏

Brilliant advice

I'll give this a try today by applying it to my to-do list. Thank you!

Great advice! 🙏🏼

Just found you today & really enjoyed this short podcast on FLOW! I have had success with the pomodoro technique in the past & this served as not only a reminder, but opened me to the idea of using it while writing! Thank you!

Thank you. Very helpful!