July 17, 2025

Unlock Peak Performance: How to Tap Into a Flow State (and Stay There)

Home > Blog > Unlock Peak Performance: How to Tap Into a Flow State (and Stay There)

Your phone buzzes, daily worries set in, your thoughts wander, and all the while, you’re getting nothing done.

But what if you could just tune in, let the minutes or even hours slide by, and make real progress without it feeling like a grind? We’re talking about the flow—the state in which you’re fully plugged into whatever activity you're doing, time flies by, and productivity becomes easy sailing.

Whether it's writing, coding, cleaning, or creating, learning how to tap into this mental state can transform how you work. The best part? It isn’t magic—it’s neuroscience.

In this post, we’ll break down what flow state is, how to reach it, and how cannabis might play a role in helping you stay there. Let's go.

What Is a Flow State?

When you're really into something—like drawing, gaming, or sports—you sometimes feel “in the zone.” That feeling is called flow. In flow, “you’re fully focused, things feel natural, and you forget about yourself or the world around you.”

It was Hungarian-American psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi who first defined Flow Theory. While he and his colleagues studied creative processes in the late 1960s, they noticed that artists (particularly painters) whose projects were going well were able to shut out everything else, despite obstacles like hunger, discomfort, or a lack of sleep.

It was through these observations of activities that are intrinsically rewarding that laid the groundwork for his research into the flow state. According to Csíkszentmihályi, this state happens when “one’s skills are adequate to cope with the challenges at hand, in a goal-directed, rule-bound action system that provides clear clues as to how one is performing.”

When people are engaged in flow, they are:

Present in the moment
Intrinsically motivated
Intensely focused
Merging action with awareness
Sensing a control over their actions
Feeling time at a slower rate

To someone in the state of flow, it’s not necessarily the end result that’s the reward, but merely the action of doing it. For example, if you’re in a flow state while cleaning your house, you’re feeling motivated through the sweeping, dusting, and rinsing rather than the idea of having a clean home.

Plus, you’re so enveloped in the state that you won’t notice the time that has flown by while you completed this task.

The Neuroscience Behind Flow State

We know what a flow state, also known as “getting in the zone,” feels like, but what exactly is happening in your brain to cause this?

According to a paper published in 2020, the flow state may occur due to several systems and networks within the brain.

The Mesolimbic System (Reward Center)

The first is your reward system, which is powered by dopamine. Dopamine is the “feel-good chemical” in your brain that helps you feel motivated, get moving, and feel rewarded for taking certain actions. Some examples of activities that can release dopamine include exercise, spending time in nature, listening to music, or achieving goals.

Locus Coeruleus Norepinephrine

Your Locus Coeruleus Norepinephrine (LC-NE) is basically your “focus filter.” This system in the brain helps you decide whether you should stay on a task or focus on something else.

Default Mode Network

This part of your brain gets activated when you daydream or think about yourself. During the flow state, this part of the brain activates less to shift your attention outward towards a task.

Central Executive Network

Your Central Executive Network (CEN) helps you concentrate on a task and helps you remember what you’re doing.

Salience Network

The salience network (SN) helps you detect and prioritize relevant information. Basically, it acts as a filter to determine which externally and internally occurring things are important to focus on now, and which don’t need immediate attention.

In a flow state, your brain’s focus and reward systems are working together. That’s why you get the “good feeling” when working on certain tasks that are not too easy (which gets you bored) but not too hard (which will make you stressed).

The Endocannabinoid System

Another paper suggests that the endocannabinoid system (the ECS, the system activated by cannabis) may help your brain move through different phases of flow, even sending signals through your body to help you relax.

How to Achieve Flow State

According to Flow Research Collective, there are several ways you can tap into a flow state, including:

Discover Your Flow Triggers

Find things that spark total immersion into a task. These things can include:

Applying your passion and purpose to a task
Having clear goals for the task
Making sure the task is balanced in terms of difficulty
Find a task that adds a bit of healthy risk
Identify activities that often lead you to lose track of time

Setting Clear, Actionable Goals

Whenever you set out to do something, make sure it’s “SMART,” meaning:

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Time-bound

Embrace Your Internal Locus of Control

A “locus of control” is the extent to which you believe you can influence the outcomes and events of your life. Cultivating an “internal locus of control” means developing the mindset in which you are the main factor that controls outcomes in your life.

It’s going from “What’s the point?” to “If I try, I can be successful.”

Align Passion with Purpose

Identifying a greater motivation/meaning behind getting a task done can help you tap into flow. For example, maybe you’re struggling to get your home organized. However, you then decide to donate old items and clothes to a local shelter. Now, your task of getting your home organized is elevated to the purpose of helping others in need.

Balance Challenge and Skill

As mentioned earlier, if a task is too hard, it just becomes an unproductive flurry of stress. On the other hand, if it’s too easy, you’ll be bored out of your mind. Try to find a sweet spot. For example, if you’re looking to get active, instead of running or walking, maybe try jogging instead.

Optimize Your Environment

Where you decide to break into your flow state can have a great effect on how well you can maintain it and how much you can get done. Some ways you can do this include:

Keeping your tools/materials organized
Clearing out clutter
Use natural light whenever you can

Try implementing a “ritual” like putting on headphones when you start

Do Things You Love

Time can really escape you when you’re engaged with something that you love doing. So if you’re looking to get into a flow state, try revisiting old hobbies, reading that book you’ve always wanted to read, or add a new spin to something enjoyable, for example, if you like going on walks, try out a new trail or state park.

Don’t Force It

You don’t activate flow, you cultivate it. Too much pressure for getting into a flow state can cause you to overthink and block access to this state. Instead, focus on creating the right conditions, and your chances of getting into a flow state will increase.

Find Your Focus: Top Cannabis Picks to Cultivate Your Flow State

As mentioned earlier, the ECS is both the system that helps manage flow states and gets activated when you enjoy cannabis. Many people already find that cannabis can help them tap into creativity, focus, and productivity, so if you’re looking to cultivate a bit more flow into your life, here are our top recommendations:

Sativa Products

Popular because they’re uplifting and energizing, gummies, vapes, taffies, and other products containing a sativa-dominant profile can help you cultivate the right conditions for tapping into a flow state.

Balanced Cannabinoid Blends

Those seeking a bit of clarity may benefit from 1:1 blends of CBD to THC to offer a gentle, harmonious experience to promote a daily-stress melting balanced mind/body experience that will help them get into a flow state.

Tinctures

With precise measurement, tinctures are great for those who are looking for a microdose or just starting to include cannabis into their productivity routine. Since you can enjoy these products both through ingestion and sublingual administration, you can also play around with different onset times for the effects.

Final Thoughts

A “flow state” isn’t some magical zone reserved for athletes, artists, and performers. It’s something that we can all tap into to help ourselves feel more productive and rewarded in our daily lives. Flow state occurs when we work on engaging, meaningful tasks that rest between the sweet spot of easy and difficult. And it’s a harmonious dance between the parts of our brains that govern reward and focus.

Although flow isn’t something you can just “activate,” you can employ a variety of methods that can increase your chances of entering such a state. Plus, if you’re ever interested in including cannabis in your productivity routines, you’re more than welcome to try out what Hometown Hero has to offer.

Until next time, happy exploring, and mind your mind.