The science behind FLOWN

We've taken the research behind what makes us creative, productive and fulfilled to build tools and resources that deliver every element

By tapping into neural triggers that have been part of human wiring for millennia, FLOWN's focus platform enable you to consistently find focus.

Let's explore the six key aspects of behavioural science and neuroscience that are built into FLOWN's focus platform. Virtual co-working on FLOWN is proven to enhance concentration and productivity, so that you can get more done, more easily.

Here's how...

1. Body doubling

Body doubling is the practice of working in the presence of others. It helps anchor attention, and makes it easier to focus on tasks.

This is to do with mirror neurons — a class of brain cells that make us reflexively emulate those around us.

🥱 It's why we yawn when we see other people yawn. It's why going to study in the library was so effective at college.

A 2006 German study found this kind of social pressure to be impactful for most tasks, improving human performance by 16-32 percent.

Multiple studies have since shown body doubling, social cues and the feeling of being observed (also known as The Hawthorne Effect) to be powerful motivators that cause us to work harder, think more deeply, be more creative, and even feel what we are doing is more meaningful.

2. Implementation intentions

This simply means having a clearly defined plan for when and how you will accomplish a goal.

Research published in the British Journal of Health Psychology compared the outcomes for 248 people aiming to improve their exercise habits over a two week period.

A third of subjects were asked to devise a specific plan for when and where they would exercise (what researchers term an ‘implementation intention’) by completing the following sentence:

The study found that those who did this were able to follow through on their goal of exercising 91% of the time — more than double the rate of those who didn’t use this practice.

Implementation intentions have since been found to be a highly effective trigger for successfully forming new habits and following through on goals across a range of settings.

3. Accountability

Accountability is the positive social pressure that’s experienced when our actions are answerable to peers.

A 2010 study by the American Association for Talent Development found that the probability of completing a goal increased to 65% when the intention to achieve it was shared with someone.

Importantly, when this was also done as part of a specific accountability appointment, the likelihood of success increased further to 95%.

4. Stints of focused work

In 2015, a study at the University of California found it can take more than 23 minutes to fully regain focus following a distraction.

This is due to what’s known as 'attention residue' – whereby the brain struggles to fully move on from the interruption.

This phenomenon has been shown to reduce productivity across the workday by up to 40%.

Strategies for managing focus stints

It’s clear the avoidance of distractions is vital; but to remain productive it’s important to also moderate the time spent doing focused work.

Research by the social networking company Draugiem Group in 2014 found that the top performing 10% of workers focused on work for an average of 52 minutes before taking a break.

These findings tally with separate research done by the polling company Ifop, which found that the attention of meeting participants was most likely to drift after 52 minutes — the exact length of time found to be best for focusing on tasks in Draugiem’s earlier study.

5. Time blocking

Time blocking is a time management technique where you allocate specific periods to particular tasks, ensuring a structured and intentional approach to your day.

This practice is particularly effective for overcoming what’s known as “time blindness,” a common challenge for people with ADHD, where the passage of time is hard to sense or predict.

A 2019 study in the Journal of Psychology found that setting fixed periods for focused work reduced procrastination and increased task completion rates by 40%. This is because time blocking provides both external structure and a sense of immediacy, helping to combat the overwhelm that can arise from unstructured schedules or large, ambiguous tasks.

For individuals with ADHD, time blocking creates a clear roadmap for the day, which can counteract the tendency to drift between tasks or lose focus.

The act of planning also engages the brain’s executive function, promoting clarity and reducing decision fatigue.

By visually organizing tasks and setting realistic timeframes, you’re less likely to overestimate your capacity, which in turn helps to minimize stress and guilt associated with unmet goals.

6. The power of play

According to Boston College professor, Peter Gray, play is a state of mind uniquely suited to ‘high level reasoning, insightful problem solving and creative endeavours.’

This is because play promotes the release of a hormone in the brain known as brain-derived neurotrophic factor — a molecule closely related with the brain changes involved in learning and memory.

Play has also been shown to be important for promoting the release of dopamine — a brain hormone linked to improved mood, cognitive performance, and the self-control needed for sustained bouts of focus.

The FLOWN philosophy and
the psychology of flow

Hungarian-American psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi was the first to define and describe flow. A brain state in which a person feels immersed in their task, and able to focus with ease to do complex work. After interviewing practitioners of every kind (everyone from Himalayan climbers, to Dominican monks, to Navajo shepherds), Csikszentmihalyi formulated eight characteristics he found to be common to the experience of flow states:

The 8 characteristics of flow

1. Complete involvement in the task — to be focused, concentrated

2. Inner clarity — certainty concerning goals, and how well we are doing (immediate feedback)

3. A sense of control — the activity feels doable; our skills are adequate to the task

4. Dissolution of ego — actions and awareness merge; lack of self-consciousness

5. Timelessness — time seems to dilate or constrict

6. Intrinsic motivation — the doing of the task becomes its own reward

7. A sense of ecstasy — of being outside of everyday reality

8. A sense of effortlessness or ease