Flow and Meditation

Being a software engineer is challenging.  Many software professionals talk about getting into Flow as a great way to being able to increase their productivity and enjoyment while coding.  Flow seems to enable developers to see the path they need to take rather than wandering around without direction toward completing their work.

I often read ideas of how to achieve Flow which are more reactive than proactive. The reactive ideas are to close your office door (assuming you have a door), turn off all notifications on your computer (instant messaging notifications, text messages, email, etc), and wearing headphones while listening to ambient music. These are all great ideas, but they are reactive to the situation.

One idea I would like to propose more software engineers to do is to train your brain to focus by practicing meditation.  I find that 10 to 30 minutes of meditation per day are an excellent way to teach my brain how to focus and get into flow.  I've practiced meditation for a little over 4 years now and find it to be a great way to focus.

For those that are not familiar with meditation, it can be as simple as finding a quiet place where you won't be interrupted, usually closing your eyes, focusing on inhaling and exhaling a few times to calm the mind and center it on a single task of focusing on your breath.  At its most simple form, that's really it.

During each session, your monkey mind will likely go skipping off thinking of a hundred different things.  Once you discover that your mind has wandered off (not focused on simply observing of your breathing), just gently bring your mind back to your breathing.  You shouldn't judge yourself harshly as you try to complete this seemingly simple task of observing your breath for 10 to 30 minutes; your monkey mind has been encouraged to wander off seemingly randomly through all of our electronic interruptions.

There are several meditation apps that I have used for learning how to meditate. Each have their own flavor and style of training and doing meditation.  There is no one right way to do it; I would encourage you to just experiment to find something that fits with your style.  Also keep in mind that as you practice meditation, you may find something that works now, but months or years later you shift to something else as you grow and learn.

One app that I currently use daily is "Insight Timer".  There are thousands of guided meditations, meditation background music, and courses.  You can find guided meditations or simply ambient background music to listen to for your meditation. Within Insight Timer, a favorite meditation guide for me is Andy Hobbson.  His guided meditations are my style, but you'll need to find your own style.

Happy meditating...