Protocols / FOCUS

Focus & Flow State Protocol

Plan deep-work blocks and protect them.

Flow can't be forced, but its conditions can be set up. This protocol shows you how to plan a deep-work block, cut the switching and interruptions that cost you focus, set up your phone, screen and noise, and take breaks that help. It ends with a daily focus plan and a two-week log, and explains why the evidence for binaural and 40 Hz beats is still early and mixed.

€7 · one-time payment · instant PDF · by Anthony Falcone

What's included

  • Block card: outcome, time and if-then plan
  • Block lengths from 25 to 90 minutes
  • Workspace and notification checklist
  • Breaks that restore attention
  • Binaural and 40 Hz beats: the evidence, and a 2-week self-test
  • 21 peer-reviewed references

Built for

Better Focus · Peak Performance

Inside the PDF: 8 chapters

  1. Before You Start: This protocol is about how you set up your work. It is not a treatment for attention problems. A few situations need a doctor first.
  2. What Flow Is, and Isn't: Flow is the state of being fully absorbed in a task, first described by the psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. You can't switch it on, but you can set up the conditions that make it more likely.
  3. Why Switching Costs You: Every switch between tasks has a cost, even a quick one. Deep work is mostly about switching less.
  4. Plan the Block: A deep-work block is a set time for one task, planned in advance, with everything else shut out. The planning takes two minutes and decides most of what happens next.
  5. Design Your Workspace: Willpower runs out; a workspace that doesn't tempt you doesn't need it. Set it up once and every block gets easier.
  6. Sound: Binaural and 40 Hz Beats (Early, Mixed Evidence): Binaural beats and 40 Hz sounds are popular focus tools. The evidence is early and mixed. Here is what it shows, so you can decide whether to test them.
  7. Breaks That Work: Breaks are part of deep work, not time off from it. The type and length of the break both matter.
  8. Your Daily Focus Plan: Put it together: planned blocks for your most important work, shallow work batched around them, and a short shutdown at the end of the day.

Safety notes

  • Keep headphone volume moderate. If you can't hear someone speaking at arm's length, or your ears ring afterwards, it is too loud.

References (21)

  1. EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (2015). Scientific Opinion on the safety of caffeine. EFSA Journal, 13(5), 4102. doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2015.4102
  2. Fong, C.J., Zaleski, D.J. & Leach, J.K. (2015). The challenge-skill balance and antecedents of flow: A meta-analytic investigation. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 10(5), 425-446. doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2014.967799
  3. Monsell, S. (2003). Task switching. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 7(3), 134-140. doi.org/10.1016/S1364-6613(03)00028-7
  4. Leroy, S. (2009). Why is it so hard to do my work? The challenge of attention residue when switching between work tasks. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 109(2), 168-181. doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2009.04.002
  5. Mark, G., Gudith, D. & Klocke, U. (2008). The cost of interrupted work: more speed and stress. Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 107-110. doi.org/10.1145/1357054.1357072
  6. Ophir, E., Nass, C. & Wagner, A.D. (2009). Cognitive control in media multitaskers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(37), 15583-15587. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0903620106
  7. Uncapher, M.R. & Wagner, A.D. (2018). Minds and brains of media multitaskers: Current findings and future directions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(40), 9889-9896. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1611612115
  8. Masicampo, E.J. & Baumeister, R.F. (2011). Consider it done! Plan making can eliminate the cognitive effects of unfulfilled goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101(4), 667-683. doi.org/10.1037/a0024192
  9. Gollwitzer, P.M. & Sheeran, P. (2006). Implementation Intentions and Goal Achievement: A Meta-analysis of Effects and Processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 69-119. doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(06)38002-1
  10. Kushlev, K., Proulx, J. & Dunn, E.W. (2016). "Silence Your Phones": Smartphone Notifications Increase Inattention and Hyperactivity Symptoms. Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1011-1020. doi.org/10.1145/2858036.2858359
  11. Fitz, N. et al. (2019). Batching smartphone notifications can improve well-being. Computers in Human Behavior, 101, 84-94. doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.07.016
  12. Ward, A.F. et al. (2017). Brain Drain: The Mere Presence of One's Own Smartphone Reduces Available Cognitive Capacity. Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 2(2), 140-154. doi.org/10.1086/691462
  13. Ruiz Pardo, A.C. & Minda, J.P. (2022). Reexamining the "brain drain" effect: A replication of Ward et al. (2017). Acta Psychologica, 230, 103717. doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2022.103717
  14. Banbury, S. & Berry, D.C. (1998). Disruption of office-related tasks by speech and office noise. British Journal of Psychology, 89(3), 499-517. doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8295.1998.tb02699.x
  15. Garcia-Argibay, M., Santed, M.A. & Reales, J.M. (2019). Efficacy of binaural auditory beats in cognition, anxiety, and pain perception: a meta-analysis. Psychological Research, 83(2), 357-372. doi.org/10.1007/s00426-018-1066-8
  16. Ingendoh, R.M., Posny, E.S. & Heine, A. (2023). Binaural beats to entrain the brain? A systematic review of the effects of binaural beat stimulation on brain oscillatory activity, and the implications for psychological research and intervention. PLoS ONE, 18(5), e0286023. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0286023
  17. Martorell, A.J. et al. (2019). Multi-sensory Gamma Stimulation Ameliorates Alzheimer's-Associated Pathology and Improves Cognition. Cell, 177(2), 256-271.e22. doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2019.02.014
  18. Albulescu, P. et al. (2022). "Give me a break!" A systematic review and meta-analysis on the efficacy of micro-breaks for increasing well-being and performance. PLoS ONE, 17(8), e0272460. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0272460
  19. Oppezzo, M. & Schwartz, D.L. (2014). Give your ideas some legs: The positive effect of walking on creative thinking. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 40(4), 1142-1152. doi.org/10.1037/a0036577
  20. Stevenson, M.P., Schilhab, T. & Bentsen, P. (2018). Attention Restoration Theory II: a systematic review to clarify attention processes affected by exposure to natural environments. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part B, 21(4), 227-268. doi.org/10.1080/10937404.2018.1505571
  21. Chang, Y.K. et al. (2012). The effects of acute exercise on cognitive performance: A meta-analysis. Brain Research, 1453, 87-101. doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2012.02.068

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General education, not medical advice. If you have a medical condition, take medication, or are pregnant or breastfeeding, talk to your doctor before you start.