In the Zone (and I’m not talking about car parts…or a diet)
Ah, the zone. Everyone’s got one. It’s that place you go where you reach peak productivity and creativity. Where ideas just flow from your head, and you can accomplish insane amounts of work in next to no time. I’m one of those people who has a hard time getting into the zone, but once I’m there can stay in the zone for a week or better (problem is it only really naturally happens once every couple years or so). Seriously, I’ve written entire screenplays, with edits, in four days. But, I’ve been working on ways to “force” myself into the zone.
Here’s what I’ve found that (sometimes) works for me:
Just do something. It can be anything that’s remotely related to what you’re actually trying to do. Say you’re trying to write the next great American novel…start out by writing a short story, write what a day in the life of your main character is like, write about something related to your actual story, but not part of the actual story. If you still can’t get started, then read something similar (or not similar) instead. Sometimes the act of doing something will put you in the zone to actually do it; sometimes it doesn’t and you just end up with a lot of really, really bad writing (or whatever else it is you’re trying to do).
Don’t do anything. Just sit there and tell yourself that you’re not going to do anything until you’re in the zone. If you’re at work, just sit there and look like you’re thinking intently about something, and generally people will leave you alone for a little while at least.
Take a nap. Kinda related to “Don’t do anything”, but a little bit different. Just sleep for a bit. Sometimes this will get you into the right mood to get into the zone, but you generally have to follow it up with a second step by doing something else on this list.
Take a shower. Maybe this one just works for me, but I get these insanely good ideas in the shower. I really don’t know what it is about it. And I can usually expand on the ideas for an unlimited amount of time (or as long as I have hot water). The problem is that I don’t have any way to record the ideas, and I usually shower late at night right before bed, so I generally just jot things down when I get out of the shower and don’t attempt to stay in the zone. This is actually the way I came up with the idea for the title of this blog…it came to me in the shower. I think if I invested in a waterproof voice recorder I’d probably be able to expand on ideas a bit better and regain the enthusiasm later when I have access to my laptop.
Don’t sleep for two days. Sometimes sleep deprivation can give you a whole new outlook. While two days might be a bit extreme, try staying up until 3 am and then doing whatever it is you need to do. The summer after my sophomore year in high school, I decided to do the three required courses for my junior year so that I could skip right ahead to being a senior (I had already skipped sixth grade, so it meant graduating two years early). I would stay up late, sometimes until 3 or 4 in the morning and do my schoolwork then. I ended up with a 93 in English and a 98 in U.S. History. I would get into the zone at around midnight and work for three or four hours straight and then crash and go to bed. It worked great for me! It wouldn’t have worked if I had needed to get up in the morning, since usually I slept in until around 10 or 11.
Change your surroundings. Sometimes a change of venue is all you need. Go to a friend’s house to work, work in your backyard if you usually don’t, or drive to the ocean, a lake, or the mountains and work from there (seems you can find a wi-fi connection just about anywhere these days, so even if you need to stay connected, it’s still totally do-able).
Turn it into a competition. Call your arch-enemy (you do have one, don’t you?) and propose a competition. Challenge them to do whatever it is you’re trying to do, with something really awful (embarrassing is preferable) for the person that loses. Sometimes the fear of defeat (and public humiliation) is just the motivation you need.
Hope that this helps you to get in the zone. If anyone has additional ways they’d like to share, comment away!
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