Getting Into the Zone

This essay was written for the Makers of Sport® newsletter in July 2015. Monday Musings and Weekend Reads were the written editions of the newsletter that accompanied the podcast; the archived email is on Mailchimp. The newsletter's links and announcements are trimmed here.

College football season is neigh and anyone that knows me knows what a huge college football fan I am. As South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier says, "it's talkin' season" and boy is he sure talking.

As teams prepare for the upcoming season, it has me thinking about preparing for projects. Football is not just a physical sport but a mental one. Creating in the world of sports, is also a mental one. It takes preparation to get into your most productive states.

What types of things do you do when getting ready to tackle (pardon the pun) a big task? Do you listen to a certain kind of music? Do you head to a coffee shop because you like the ambient noise? Is there a routine you have that gets you into the zone?

For me, I have a set of over-the-ear headphones I put on (same ones I use for the podcast) and play the Deep Focus playlist from Spotify or any other music that is instrumental with minimal words. I like my brain to relax and not be attempting to comprehend lyrics subconsciously when I'm doing creative work. Especially if it is deep thinking work. Mindless tasks such as cutting out images in Photoshop or any type of production work is the time I put on podcasts because I'm just doing some repetitive task and can save the brain bandwidth for comprehending what is being said in the podcast or audio book rather than what I'm physically making.

Keeping the sketchbook near for quick ideation and turning off email notifications, Twitter, Slack and any other social apps when I need to go into this deep focus work is also vital for me. I'll even turn the phone on silent (which my wife hates when she needs to reach me from the grocery store or when she is out and about). I don't want to be bothered.

I've read or heard many times that it takes 15 minutes to get back into focus on something after that focus has been broken. Think of the many times you get interrupted during the day. Hundreds. In fact, if you take into account the 15 minutes I just mentioned, there are most likely not enough minutes in your waking day to use that time to get back into focus.

Because of all of the side projects I do, I've become known to friends and colleagues as sort of a productive warrior but I can tell you that it is not entirely true. Many things continue to distract me and staying focused is one of the hardest things I have to do professionally (well, other than firing clients).

This week as Monday fast approaches, I encourage you to find a routine — a comfortable space and mental place that allows you to be distraction-free and really tap into your brain power. If you are in an office setting, shut your door. In an open work space? Put on a pair of headphones. This symbolizes you are in the zone and will make people less likely to come bother you. At the very least they will feel awkward when doing so.

Approach this week with initiative. Just as college football players are preparing their minds and bodies for competition, prepare your own mind and body to tackle that side project you've been wanting to work on, or knock out those projects you have to do on deadline so you can do that fun thing you're wanting to do without having to stay at the office late. Good luck.