Fostering Flow

Building a business or a career usually involves a lot of hard work and quite frequently, some struggles. We talk about “working like a dog”, being “completely snowed under”, and giving “blood, sweat, and tears” in order to achieve our goals. But there are also moments during our journey where it all feels a bit easier—things just seem to fall into place. A solution to our supply chain problem suddenly appears, or we coincidentally cross paths with someone who can help us increase our social media reach. Things are flowing. It’s as if something bigger than us is at play and is helping us on our way. We just need to allow it to do its magic.

But opening ourselves to letting flow happen is countercultural. We have been taught that we need to work hard and keep our noses to the grindstone in order to be successful. Many of us feel as if we are never doing enough unless we are constantly hustling, planning, and organizing.

Of course, these active elements—the more masculine activities—are incredibly important to successful businesses. We need to be developing and implementing our business plans. But we also need to make space for the feminine element—meaning sometimes we need to stop doing all the time and just let things roll. These times are often when we have our “aha” moments. In our stillness, we finally listen to that inner voice that has been nagging at us to do things differently. We may realize that the constant blocks we have been coming up against were for a reason, perhaps we need to change our direction. The calm also allows space for creative ideas to flow. Often when we stop, we find that flow helps us achieve our goals. Less activity ends up being more fruitful.

But the question is how to bring in more flow, both to our individual lives and our working environments, particularly when our masculine-dominant culture generally doesn’t have a lot of time for it. Fostering flow is actually a critical part of empowering the feminine in our workplaces and within ourselves.

The first is to recognize where flow is already working in our lives and our businesses. When we sit down to reflect on how our week has gone or how a project is going, we should also acknowledge where flow happened. When did things feel easy? When did some kind of magic seem to take place? When did creative inspiration come to us? It often happens when we throw up our hands and stop trying to control everything. Recognizing and appreciating flow seems to encourage its presence even more.

The second is to create a culture of flow. Set aside time on a daily or weekly basis to make space for creative flow. Also, encourage “flow time” to become a part of your workplace culture instead of just focusing on productivity and achievements.

The third is to protect flow time because, as often happens, we have the best of intentions to do things differently but end up returning to old habits. Turn off the phone, ask not to be interrupted and allow space for ideas, inspirations, or just quiet. Plus, this will help lower stress levels as being interrupted is a major source of strain for many of us as it stops the flow of whatever we are doing.

The fourth is to recognize how flow works best for us and realize that it isn’t the same for everyone. Some people achieve flow by themselves, others may find that flow happens as they are talking with others. There is no one right way to flow.