Cal Newport is one of the writers and thinkers I turn to most in the realm of productivity. His work has been profoundly impactful on how I think about doing work and integrating technology into our lives in a sane and productive way.
Deep Work has become a core philosophy to how I plan my days and while I don’t always manage it on a perfect level, it’s what I continually strive to improve on.
I always viewed the Deep Work concept as this pinnacle of performance where your work just flows along effortlessly as you’re in a state of complete focus and zen.
But I got a crucial part of it wrong.
On a recent Huberman Lab podcast, Cal and Andrew were discussing the Deep Work concept and Cal explicitly stated that Deep Work is not the same as flow state. My brain came to a screeching halt; if I wasn’t driving down the road, my body would have too. I backtracked three more times to relisten to this clip. Deep Work is not meant to be a state of flow.
My worldview had just been completely shaken up.
I listened even more closely to the conversation to see where it was heading now. My thoughts were that we do deliberate practice to develop mastery so that when we time block our Deep Work sessions we can find flow and stay there longer. It’s not exactly right though. Cal says that Deep Work is applying deliberate practice and if Deep Work is deliberate practice then it simply can’t be flow.
I went back to the drawing board to see how this all fits into the performance equation.
The Return of the Deliberate Practice Debate
One of the most strongly formed debates in high-performance science is the deliberate practice versus flow debate. Anders Ericsson, the pioneer of deliberate practice, and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the grandfather of flow, battled it out from atop their two towers of research. Anders said clearly that deliberate practice, the state we’ve recently read about being crucial for skill development and mastery is not the same as the flow state where effortless effort merges into a peak experience.
Being a flow junkie I’ve sided with Mihalyi for the longest time and turned my nose up at deliberate practice in presumed solidarity that we don’t need no stinkin’ deliberate practice. The idea in following the Flow Lifestyle Formula is to work through the 4 Pillars:
we train our focus first to ensure we can even get into the flow state
then build up mastery for continued skill development to push the challenge
once this groundwork is laid understanding the flow state and the triggers and conditions for flow helps us to spend more time in the state
finally, we need to emphasize recovery to replenish from this peak state to do it all over again.
The flash of insight in hearing from Cal that Deep Work isn’t flow hasn’t changed my views on the formula but has forced me to reconsider the importance that is placed on each pillar. I reflected on how often I was truly in flow in my work and whether that was as important as I had been making it out to be.
As the Finding Mastery podcast host and high-performance psychologist Dr. Michael Gervais has said often, even world-class performers are only in the flow state about 15% of the time.
If all the time that we spend doing Deep Work to perfect our craft isn’t about flow then what are the crucial points about this practice that we need to double down on to ensure that flow is the eventual outcome?
The only thing that we really know about flow is that it’s wolf spelled backwards - Andrew Huberman
The Difference Between Deliberate Practice and Flow
Flow is a performance state whereas Deep Work (or deliberate practice) is a practice state. This goes back to the point Huberman and Newport discuss in their podcast. Optimizing for flow all the time may mean leaving more of your potential on the table. That was another eye-opening idea to me, so I’ll say it again.
Prioritizing too much time in flow means you’re missing out on your full potential.
Let’s get to some of the meat and potatoes differences of the flow state and deliberate practice since full books have been written on each of the states and are worth checking out in the resources at the end of this post if you haven’t read them before.
I’ve talked about the similarities in the two states before. Undeniably, there are clear points that bring deliberate practice and flow close to one another. But it’s the differences that I didn’t quite understand that make it clear why deliberate practice and Deep Work need to come first and still make their way into the routine of the high flow lifestyle if we want to continue to perform our best and unlock our full potential.
So how do we accomplish that?
Integrating These Two States Into The High Flow Lifestyle
If 85% of the time world-class performers are practicing above a challenge level that’s conducive to flow, it’s naive to think that we can do much better without sacrificing skill development.
I’m going back to reframing and doubling down on the importance of the Mastery pillar in the High Flow Lifestyle. Deliberate practice is the core work of developing greater mastery. It requires grit, mental toughness, and relentless hard work. You have to dedicate yourself to being uncommon amongst the uncommon.
Working towards mastery is not comfortable work. That’s ok.
I have prioritized flow for so long that discomfort in my work feels like I’m doing something wrong. So I’m reframing it and seeing that when I squirm or want to pull away to switch to a task that I can more quickly find flow in, that’s not always the right way through the situation.
Flow is still important. We can feel satisfaction from the hard work of deliberate practice but the mix of neurochemicals and the deep sense of meaning that comes from hitting a peak experience like flow is something you know right away is very different. We can dip into that state to give ourselves some respite from the hard work but spending all of our time in flow is like the person who constantly seeks happiness and therefore remains unhappy. Flow is the mountain peak we reach but the more we dip into the valley to do Deep Work and develop even greater skills and expertise, the higher the mountain peak we can climb.
That’s worth being gritty for.
Take Action
Reflect on how much deliberate practice you’re doing versus keeping the challenge level in the flow zone to ride that wave.
Is there anything you can do to practice deliberately more often at a higher challenge level?
For a Deeper Dive, Read These Books:
When you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you further:
Flow Coach App
Build the habits you need to look and feel better for life.
Unstressable
Before you can reach your full potential you have to become Unstressable. This course teaches you how to use stress as a tool for your growth and prevent burnout for good.
Peak Performance Coaching
Accomplish your dream goals with greater success and less resistance to unlock your full potential.