Effortless attention. Complete immersion while pursuing a task. Working at your highest level without even knowing it. Sounds like a superpower, but it’s just psychology. Flow is a state of mind any musician, writer, athlete or programmer can enter. There are a hundred names for it: being in ‘the zone’, ‘wired in’, or just plain ‘absorbed’. You know you’ve been there when you look at the clock and hours have flown by.

As I touched on before, attention is a resource that can grow with training. It’s one you have to hammer out–often by reading more longform and less twitter tweets. I’m not going to berate you on the pitfalls of instant gratification–I watch far too many Twitch streams to get away with that.

From reading K. A. Applegate to Nobokov, from watching Family Guy to House of Cards–every medium has varying levels of challenge. This article will focus on writing and the habits that will get you into the right corner. If you’re tasked by your boss to write TPS Reports, expect to feel Apathy. If you’re writing a cover letter to your resume, expect to Worry. If you’re writing the first sentence of your novel, expect to feel Anxiety.

It’s also important to note here that there is often a stark difference between perceived challenge and actual challenge. There are a few things you can do to increase your own confidence and reduce the actual challenge ahead of you.

Routine

“There are certain things I do if I sit down to write,” he said. “I have a glass of water or a cup of tea. There’s a certain time I sit down, from 8:00 to 8:30, somewhere within that half hour every morning,” he explained. “I have my vitamin pill and my music, sit in the same seat, and the papers are all arranged in the same places. The cumulative purpose of doing these things the same way every day seems to be a way of saying to the mind, you’re going to be dreaming soon.”

–Stephen King

The dreaming King speaks of is the state of flow. He is a master of dreaming up nightmares, and he does it so well in part because he sets himself up for success. If you own a dog you know the importance of routines. Your brain is not much different. Flow can be coaxed through sheer habit. At the same time, in the same place–get in the habit of losing track of time with nothing but your work in front of you.

Don’t play on hard mode

Writing a masterpiece without any outlining, without editing or playtesting–that’s impossible. You’re only going to get anxious and quit. Make it easier for yourself. For interactive fiction writers: outline all your choices and their branches before you start. Know where you want references to past choices to occur.

And most importantly, don’t even think what you write down the first time has to be perfect. It doesn’t need to be. I go into more detail about my imperfect process here.

Regain your confidence

It is easy for your perceived skill to drop well below your actual skill. It’s one reason why warming up is so important. If you’re a dancer you warm up your legs with stretches and easier routines, if you’re a guitarist you loosen your hands with simpler tabs. But what does a programmer or a writer do?

I reread some of what I’ve written, yesterday-old me when I was in that state of flow. By going over my paragraphs again I recall my tone and pick up the chain of thought I had placed down before. Add this step to your pre-battle ritual. You always want to jump in with a running start.

Conclusion

Anything worth doing that fulfills you is by nature a challenge. No matter what motivations you have, you’re going to dread the effort it takes. Studying for an exam, preparing for a job interview, hitting the gym translates to Anxiety, Worry, and Apathy. You can overcome this with enough self-discipline, habit and hard work.

And of course, flow!