Photo by Matteo Di Iorio on Unsplash
For those who don’t know, "the zone" refers to a mental state where one’s focus is solely on their craft and they can produce some of their best work.
The way I get into the zone is pretty simple, so I thought I’d share.
The right setting ⏰
After I’ve arrived at work and had my daily standup meeting with the team, I usually don’t have any meetings scheduled for a couple hours. Perfect time to get in the zone!
Caffeine ☕️ (usually but optional)
I get a cup of coffee and start sipping as I go through my email, after about 15 minutes I'm finally awake for the first time.
Meditation 🧘🏾♂️ (critical!)
This is necessary for me because at the start of the day, I'm a little stressed about what needs to be done and in general have too much going on in my head.
It helps me to write one or two tasks I intend to accomplish that morning and then meditate to clear my mind of everything.
I put on headphones and listen to a guided meditation on headspace. I need a minimum of 10-15 minutes before my body is relaxed, and my mind has calmed down.
Once all that's done, I'm instantly in the zone. My to-do list is in front of me and I burst into action!
What's your morning routine like? How do you get in the zone?
Top comments (8)
Started as a team lead last year, spending time getting into the zone is just not an option for me anymore.
Usually i start my day with some music and a todo list for what i plan to do today.
After that i am usually flying, that is, until i get interrupted.
So i've developed a strategy of writing my unfiltered thoughts while i code as comments.
When i get back after an interruption i read my git diff and notes, while listening to some chill/relaxing music without a voice track.
That usually gets me back quicker.
That's a good plan! Yea its definitely hard to get some time in everyday.
I was very good with getting into the zones until I was promoted as a Lead, I guess Lead and being in the zone are kind of oxymorons. Whenever I start something I am being interrupted nowadays.
I tried to take some critical tasks and couldn't finish them within time and burned out myself by overworking. It took a while to realize that I should get more done by the team than by myself.
Nowadays I am assigning any critical thing to someone and join them as a secondary developer to help wherever I can. Otherwise I take some things which are necessary but not critical.
I also started using pomodoro timer technique and discussed with my team that if I have headphones on it means I'm in the middle of something and try not to disturb me unless it is really required. They're free to message and I'll reply to them in the breaks between pomodoros, still I can get done around 4-6 average pomodoro's because of the interruptions yet it is better than nothing.
I’m starting to see a pattern that once you’re in a leading role, you don’t really have the luxury of getting in “the zone” and that’s unfortunate 😕
Doesn’t mean you can’t get good work done though!
Yeah, The tech lead role is very loosely defined and it is like juggling between a lot of things. But it might be a great time to work on your multi-tasking, time management, and people skills as well because you're gonna need them.
It depends on the organization you're working for and some organizations have a good definition for the role and there it might be different.
Thanks. I needed this.
You can try brain.fm too. It's really works!!
I definitely will!