There's nothing more present than folding clothes.

Think about it, in a world where more noise seems to be the answer for noise. Folding clothes is the one spot where silence and presence collide. In my day to day operations as the CEO of Flow Forward Media, I'm constantly being bombarded with texts, calls, emails, notifications, and of course social media engagements.

Think of all the time you spend on social media or listening to music, podcasts, and God knows what else. Do you ever spend time in solitude? There's a reason your best ideas come when you're in the shower, taking a drive at night, or even on a walk. The key factor in all of this is "presence."

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The Flow that Keeps On Flowing

Presence is a space that few people achieve in today's modern age of non-stop noise. Presence is where your mind is completely locked into the conversation or task at hand. Your mind is doing nothing else, but processing the moment. Presence is when you can hear your heartbeat, it's dead quiet. In these moments you hit what I call a "Flow State." This goes beyond thinking, planning, and analyzing. For example flow state is about getting in such an incredible conversation that was supposed to be 5 minutes turns to 3 hours but feels like 5 minutes.

Your mind was built to have moments like this. How do you think the greatest artists in the world created their art? Most of them needed some form of stillness for their brain to process, think, and create a masterpiece. It's difficult to work at your best with a lot of noise in your life.

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Deep Work

Deep work is another version of flow state. Whereas flow state refers to the present moment, deep work specifically focuses on one aspect which is WORK. Deep work is one of the hardest phases to tap into in your every day life. With the non-stop notifications, it's nearly impossible. When you do tap into deep work, it's important that you resist the urge to check your phone, emails, social media, etc. I call this "starving the dopamine."

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So How Do We Get Present?

Presence can be found every day. It requires our conscious awareness plus consistent discipline to reach it. As hard as it sounds, I find a lot of my "flow," in the beginning and towards the end of the day. The middle of my day is usually hectic and beautiful at the same time.

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4am: The day starts. Phone is on DND. I immediately hydrate and begin to journal (how I slept, what I'm grateful for, how I'm feeling, and my intention for the day). Next I'll read a chapter of the bible and get into prayer. After my quiet time with God, I'll read 10 pages of a business/creative book of my choice (non-fiction only).

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4:30am: By now, I've started my first workout of the day. This is the time I can get some energy and process what I've read this morning. (I've realized when I don't work out in the morning, I'm pretty sluggish throughout the day).

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5:30am: I'm done with the workout and give myself at least an hour to create whatever I want, like right now it's 5:50am and I'm writing this. Giving yourself time to create makes your day so much better. Creative time "feeds your soul," so you can go out and help others throughout the day. 5:30am is my time, I own it. This is where I can create without worrying about performance, metrics, KPI's. etc.

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6:30/7am: I begin working. throughout the day and in between calls, I'll make sure to get into deep work. The phone is on DND 247, I'll also wear noise cancelling headphones to where I can only hear my heartbeat. Only hearing your heartbeat is a great cadence to work to.

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12pm: I take a break and go for a walk/run outside. Stepping away from work and breathing air/touching grass is actually the medicine for productivity. You have to unplug to recharge, even if it's for 45 mins. During this time, I'm either walking with low background music or running hard in which I won't have headphones in for that. I tell everyone when you fall in love with the sound of feet hitting the pavement, you'll hit flow state on your run/walk.

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1pm-7pm: It's back to work calls and tasks to push the business forward. A lot of this time feels like a blur. Minimal thinking and more doing, a flow state of task switching, chaos, and productivity. Let's call the afternoon an adrenaline rush to the day.

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7pm-9pm: The "unwind period." Before I shut everything down, I plan out my next day by the hour. This gives me clarity and direction. I try my best to slow down work at this time. Enjoying a meal in silence, shower in silence, cleaning the house in silence, you get the point. After 12 hours of noise, stepping away is a non-negotiable. In these quiet moments I get the best ideas, in which I'll write down for tomorrow's implementation. Sometimes I'll stay up all night writing down these thoughts.

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Surprisingly enough my creative moments aren't on a run, in the shower, or when I'm working. It's happening when I'm folding clothes.

*I thought of this last night folding clothes.

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If you liked this read and want to connect with me please feel free to send an email to marcus@flowforwardmedia.com

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