Discipline, Flow, and Process

How do you get work done? How do you combine discipline, flow and process to accomplish difficult tasks?

Flow is effortless, almost unconscious. The person’s skills are well balanced to the challenges of the task at hand, resulting in an almost effortless motion through the project. The book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, by by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, is perhaps the ultimate handbook to achieve flow in work and life. As described by the author, “Flow is the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter. The experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost.“

Discipline feels like the opposite of Flow. I set up the little cheering squad in my brain. “You can do this boring administrivia. Stick with it for five more minutes, then we can take a break.” Diets and habits take lots of discipline. Flow takes something else.

The human hindbrain, also called frog brain or reptilian brain, is one obstacle to flow. It is called the frog brain or reptilian brain because it first evolved in reptiles. It has survived in mammals almost unchanged from its reptilian ancestor. Its primary responsibilities are to protect the physical body and to reproduce. The hindbrain actually controls the body and creates emotions in order to manipulate the forebrain into doing what the hindbrain wants.

The hindbrain does not like surprises or changes and is highly attuned to stress. It detects when the body or brain is stressed and quickly triggers chemicals that get the body ready for “fight-or-flight.” Once the hindbrain triggers a fight-or-flight emergency, any harmonious workflow has long gone, leaving the conscious brain with only the threat of self-discipline to push the hindbrain back into its cage. As we all know from personal experience, the hindbrain will win every single argument with self-discipline.

While self-discipline sounds good, we realize that it works very poorly, and often not at all. How do we get the hindbrain to relax enough that we can move back into Flow?

For me the task of writing computer program code in Python is a good example of this difficulty. I am not very good at writing Python. The code is particularly powerful and dense. Dynamic variable typing allows the coder to make frequent, non-obvious mistakes that create inscrutable error messages in places far from the actual offending line of code. With dictionaries and dataframes the coder can create data structures that dramatically shorten the code, but require very close inter-weaving of written code with these intangible data structures. Often it is too much to keep in one’s short-term memory.

Stress triggers the Hindbrain, which breaks Flow.

Other folks may find other, different situations create stresses that trigger their hindbrains to launch a fight-or-flight distress signal to the body. Sitting through a boring meeting, driving in rush-hour traffic, fighting a recalcitrant app on a mobile phone, dealing with a screaming toddler, or even a conversation with a recalcitrant friend or spouse can all elevate stress levels into fight-or-flight.

Regardless of the trigger, we know that once the hindbrain has sent out a fight-or-flight emergency alert to the body, we have lost any chance at flow or even just a modest focus on the work at hand.

As I observed myself at work, particularly when I lost control and my hindbrain took over with the fight-or-flight emergency alert, a few patterns began emerge. Sudden shifts in the type of thinking required or discontinuities in the work itself appeared to disturb my hindbrain enough to send out the threat alert.

When the Python error checker (interpreter) sent an error message, I had to switch my thinking from writing code to debugging, which is a significant jump for me. Initially, this switch disturbed my hindbrain enough to send out its threat alert. Clearly the report of an error in the code was a type of discontinuity that created stress. My forebrain saw the error as a threat and my hindbrain immediately sent out chemicals alerting the body to get ready for fight-or-flight.

Gradually I learned a simple process. First, I tell my hindbrain “It’s OK. We are just looking up this error message on the internet right now. Everything is under control.” Then, after looking up the error and developing a fix, I chatted casually with my hindbrain, “We will type this correction into the code. It probably won’t work the first time, but don’t worry. We will get it working.”

As you listen to my internal dialogue perhaps you hear your mother or grandmother talking with you about the virtue of patience, reminding you to “Try, try again.” Today we might call it something a little more sophisticated, such as managing expectations. Sounds better, even if they are just bigger words for patience.

When Flow Dies and Discipline Fails, Try Process.

Eventually, I tuned in to the word “process,” which turns out to have powerful diagnostic value for me. When I was executing a single process, such as writing code, I knew the steps in the process and executed them easily. My forebrain was in the process flow, happily typing Python computer instructions. When I stopped writing code and hit the Run button, the process changed dramatically.

At this moment, control switched from me to the Python error checker. My fears arose. Would my code be good enough? Would the error checker give me a failing grade, along with some inscrutable message such as “… illegal type for this function…”? Almost instantly my hindbrain rose up to protect me from this threat.

My hindbrain also detected more subtle changes in my process flow for writing code. Once the program ran, it almost always delivered some erroneous result. The code was gramatically correct, but the logic was faulty. Yikes, this required another abrupt change in my process flow and another threat that my hindbrain detected. Immediately the stress level increased and any remaining flow evaporated like the morning mist in the stressful heat of the rising sun.

This discontinuity was actually worse than error messages from the error checker because the bad results provided no error message to explain their faultiness. I had to write more code to generate my own error messages for bad logic. This is a major issue for code development and many best practices have developed to find and debug logic errors. Of course these best practices require much more code and much more time and sometimes inject their own logic errors into the code.

For me, processes are different at different hierarchical levels. I am not able to generalize my internal processes enough to have a single master process that works everywhere. My internal processes for coding and debugging code did not work for creating and debugging logical structures.

Task Switching Breaks Flow

This type of discontinuity, called task switching, is well known in computing as an interrupt. It is also well-known and studied in psychology of the brain. The forebrain has a limited amount of short-term memory that it loads up to deal with the immediate process at hand. When the telephone rings, or the computer chimes to remind me about an appointment, or the email app vibrates to announce a new email, the brain must switch tasks to handle the interruption. Any flow for the current task is lost immediately. The brain unloads the previous information in the short-term memory and loads up the information about the new task, or interruption. The time required to return to the previous task can be almost immediate or as long as 15 minutes or more. In other words, task switching in the brain can be extremely costly in time and attention.

I found that the effort to switch from a code-writing process to a logic development process was a substantial task switch. Almost nothing about code writing was transferrable to logic development so my forebrain had to unload the entire short memory of coding and reload it with logic. My forebrain saw this task switch as a threat, my hindbrain recognized the stress within my forebrain, and the hindbrain immediately pumped out the threat alert chemicals that stimulated my body for fight-or-flight.

Once the interruption had broken my flow, then without the anchor of a project already in flow and filling short-term memory, my forebrain literally did not know what to do next. My process had broken and I needed to shift to a different process. Meanwhile, my forebrain was idle and wide open to any distraction. With tabs in my browser previously open to email, Twitter (X), Facebook (Meta), and stocks, I could not even pop up the browser to select the right tabs for this new process without sneaky attacks by even more distractions. My hindbrain accurately identified real threats to my attention.

Here again, process came to rescue me, on several levels. First, I used the short process to relax my hindbrain. “Looks like we need to work at a different level,” I mentioned, very casually and low-key. “It’s not a problem. We will just switch to the logic debug process for awhile. We may need to write some simple code to test the new logic, so we will be jumping between logic processes and coding processes for a few minutes. It’s OK.”

Then I loaded my short-term memory with all the information on the logic problem. It was usually much more difficult than I told my hindbrain. After developing a solution to the logic problem, I informed my hindbrain that another process switch was coming up. “We are going back to coding now, with this new logic. Probably won’t work the first time. Don’t worry.” These words sound familiar, perhaps because they are the same words I used previously to reduce the threat level perceived by my hindbrain. Same problem, same process to manage the hindbrain.

Process Makes Life Better.

Gradually I began to look at the world through the lens of process. It popped up in some odd places. While reading a book about the philosophy of Stoicism, I was surprised to find that process is a key component of Stoicism. The Stoic focuses on the process. When the Stoic gets the process right, the outcome is less important because the Stoic has done his job, or process, well. While the outcome may depend upon external factors such as the weather or other people, the Stoic has direct, personal responsibility for the quality of his work to execute the process.

Process is a key factor for everyone in my family. My daughter works as a quality manager at a technology company. For many people the ISO 2000 process is a good definition of quality management: “Write the work process, and then do that same process the same way every time.” Root cause analysis is a formal process to identify and eliminate the root cause of a specific quality problem. Statistical process control, better known as SPC, is a formal process to assure consistent performance, measurement, and metrics in manufacturing processes. My daughter knows process.

My wife worked with early elementary children who exhibited forms of emotional disturbance, such as autism, ADD, and ADHD. Many of her students had difficulty picking up social cues and often acted inappropriately for the situation. She developed short lists of questions and activities they could memorize and use in specific situations, such as meeting a stranger or entering a room of friends. These lists can be very effective and it is a little disconcerting to realize that many of our social interactions often can be reduced to a simple process and a short list.

My daughter-in-law trades stock options, a hobby which we share. She earns substantial income from option training. As I continue to develop PowerMax, which is my AI-based option trading program, I often consult with her. While her approach and tactics are considerably different from mine, she uses process intensively to manage her trading. She has taught me a lot and added considerably to the development and performance of PowerMax.

My son Ryan is probably one of top few internet plumbers in the world. He writes software in many different languages. Programming languages are specifically the distillation of many sets of processes into specific written instructions.

After an extended conversation regarding APIs and processes, Ryan sent this note:

So basically, APIs are formal structured interfaces for different bits of code to interact with each other, often across a network. There are other interfaces everywhere in the world, from informal to formal, structured to unstructured, lots of different kinds. But now that we’ve seen how they work in code, we’re kind of formalizing/structuring more non-code interfaces, like the one between you and an Uber driver. (Which is also code/product-mediated.)

Law is maybe one of the oldest human examples? Maybe debt and trade too? Although I guess competition and sex are the oldest.

There’s maybe also something interesting in the requirements for human APIs, notably trust, even if it’s scope-limited.

This especially reminds me of https://venkatesh-rao.gitbook.io/summer-of-protocols/ , by Venkatesh Rao.

Ryan Barrett, July 9, 2023

Later Ryan sent another note which expanded considerably on the role of process in our lives and in civilization.

Alfred North Whitehead once said, “Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking of them.” How can we perform an operation without thinking of it? Process.

Whitehead is just one of many people who have known this well and exploited it. Ray Kroc, the creator of the moderm McDonald’s, owes much of his success to McDonald’s famous consistency across all of its restaurants. They have huge, comprehensive manuals full of detailed instructions for making each one of their menu items. They constantly test and measure the food at their locations to make sure a Big Mac in Sao Paulo is as close to one in Bangalore as possible. Thomas Keller and Julia Child may have made artisinal, unique, soulful meals at their fancy restaurants, but Kroc has fed billions of people cheaply and consistently for almost a century, largely due to process.

Process has benefited me – and everyone – in countless ways. Per Whitehad, millions of operations are performed for me due to processes that I rarely think about, if ever, but benefit from nonetheless. Standardized shipping, electrical and water and gas utilities, rules of the road, municipal and national security, government institutions, modern manufacturing, modern agriculture…the list goes on.

When I use process myself, it’s mainly in the form of habits. Unlike operations for me, I have to think hard to form a habit. Exercising every morning takes planning, willpower, and mercy when I slip and miss a day. But eventually, over time, I think about it less and less until it’s automatic. Until one day I realize I’ve woken up, put sweats on, and hopped on the exercise bike without even thinking about it. Whitehead would be proud.

Ryan Barrett, Sept. 1, 2023

You can achieve more Flow with the right Process.

Since DIY is a big component of my personality, here’s a process that I use to get into Flow and stay in Flow longer.

• Losing Flow is not a character flaw. Don’t beat yourself up with the self-discipline stick about getting distracted. It’s a waste of time.
• Losing Flow is only a process failure. Once you have lost Flow, immediately switch to the process that recovers Flow. First, lean back and relax. Take a moment to remind your hindbrain that you are OK. There is no threat and no emergency. Take a deep breath. You are not a miserable, lazy slacker. You are a good, capable person, who happened to be using a process that failed.
• Switch to the process that fixes problems. You have seen this problem before. How did you diagnose it last time? How did you fix it last time?
• Think about when you lost Flow. What process were you executing? What problem did you encounter that did not fit into that process? What process do you need to use to fix the problem?
• Switch to your process that fixes problems. You have seen this problem before. How did you diagnose it last time? How did you fix it last time? If you feel stuck, just ask Google, “How do I fix a broken ….?” Or find it on YouTube.
• Use your problem-fixing process to adjust your expectations for the problem. Unrealistic expectations will quickly destroy Flow. Your inner critic will whine, “We have been chasing this problem for five minutes. When will we ever get back to the real work?” That thought creates stress and your hindbrain will declare an emergency. Your problem-fixing process should include scoping the problem and identifying the tools and time you need to fix it.
• Now, you’re back in the flow with a different process. Sure, this problem is an inconvenience. It is not a catastrophe. You have to fix it, so just start working on the problem-fixing process, which will lead you right back into Flow.

You need a big book full of processes.

You have a busy life, with many different demands, activities, and projects. You need many processes that operate at different levels, tested to work for you. My mental collection of processes looks like an old, dog-eared car repair manual. My mental process book has cross-outs, handwritten notes, oil smudges, red arrows, and quite a few pages torn out where the processes did not work for me.

Many of my processes remain somewhere in my mind. The most effective ones have migrated into written documents stored in the cloud. My very best processes are often lists of lists. My master life list has separate lists for finances, career, family, personal, travel, and health. Short-term projects, such as income tax reports, live inside one of the major lists. At the top of my list of lists is a short list called ToDoToDay. When I get confused or distracted, I just pull up that list and pick one near the top.

Altogether, it is the collection of processes and lists that I have found to be effective in living my life productively, in Flow as much as possible. Make your own processes. They will suit you perfectly.

Go with the Flow!