What do you do when your mind just can't think straight? Where thoughts and ideas do not seem to flow out naturally? I thought we should explore this dimension as an extension from the previous chapter on ‘Time of Action.’ The distinction between these two conditions, comes down to preparedness for the given information. When the mind is in a state of flow, in terms of ideas. A minimal effort to preempt our minds from obtaining ideas is required. Ideas enter a state of overflow, where our main tasks become recording or freezing them before they disappear. We all enter this state differently, others enter this state when they are in the shower, others during long walks, others while in nature, etc. So, it may be worth exploring and finding out what yours could be. In a state of overflowing ideas, we must find mediums to record them.

 

Now, what if that is not the case for you? When you are not in a state of flow, and you are just shooting blank. In these instances, we must go back and investigate our processes. We now must make an effort and prepare ourselves in advance to accomplish the given task. We want to somehow pre-empt our minds towards the induced state of flow. You may have the tasks coming up the next day or a week ahead, but the action in the lead up to that would be you researching and preparing for the execution of the tasks. You are mimicking the action and tasks before the day of action.

 

Other approaches could involve you altering the environment in which the task is to take place, where possible. Changing positions and environments adds a certain dimension to our planning and thinking. The mind is constantly absorbing stimuli from the external world, and those stimuli may naturally alter a certain chemical reaction in the system. This, in turn, may end up inducing an enhanced state of focus or engagement. 

 

So that is the approach where we alter the environment, but could we also alter ourselves to adjust to such states? Yes… Depending on the task or action that we are looking to undertake. One may start thinking about the physical and emotional state your body would be in during such an activity. Will your body be in a relaxed state? Would your body be in an active state? Which part of the body is in what state? When you can isolate all these components, you can target individually other activities or exercises that will raise the condition of that system. A task that requires upper body movement, for instance, you may do some stretches or exercises to get those parts active. This, in turn, will engage that part of the system as a pre activity. In a simple context, think of it as your warm-up before the exercise. If you have been involved in sports, athletes usually do warm-up exercises before the activity that are aligned with the activity they are about to perform. This will get the muscles, mind, and other parts of the body prepared.