When performing any task – or series of tasks – such as work, exercising, conversing, dating, brainstorming, meditating etc. and you want to double or triple your productivity, the first thing you want to do is

Line up the energy around you and within you.

This creates a coherent, energetic focus, reduces friction and reduces the amount of time it takes to “get up to speed” or “get into flow” and maximize your productivity.

So how exactly do we do this?

We’ll start with the 10 step checklist to lining up your energy. It’s broken down into 2 main elements:

• Your Environment (4 steps)
• Yourself (6 steps)

Then, we’ll go over some examples of setups for tasks such as meditating and writing.

Here’s your checklist to lining up your energy:

1. Your Environment – Space

Where you perform the task. Create a space where you do that task and only that task. This helps for several reasons.

• It acts as a trigger to train your brain to perform how it usually does when these environmental conditions are met.
• It meets the requirements for the task at hand and is conducive to facilitating the task. That could mean that it provides the tools you need for the task, or people around you doing the same or similar tasks, or people that can be available to support you in your task.

2. Your Environment – Music

Select music that enhances the mood or feel of your task at hand for increasing performance.

Sometimes having no music is the way to go. Or you can use apps that create ambient sounds or music to help you in your task at hand. I like this app for ambient sound, Noisili.

3. Your Environment – Lighting

Lighting plays a huge role in energy alignment. It affects mood, biochemical production, and the general feel of a place. Use it to your advantage.

4. Your Environment – Misc

Including temperature, minimizing distractions, awareness of technology, food and scents.

5. Yourself – Body

Movement is a crucial determinant in thought and emotion. When you move or posture your body a specific way, it triggers your brain to feel that which you are embodying.

6. Yourself – Breath

The way you breathe has a profound impact on your state. Breathing short and fast stimulates your sympathetic nervous system and facilitates excitation and a state of anxiousness, adrenaline release or even anxiety as your body is prepared for action and self-preservation (flight or flight). Breathing slow and deep, in turn, signals your brain and body to go into parasympathetic or resting, relaxation mode. Either of which can help your task at hand.

7. Yourself – Emotions

Music plays a role in influencing emotions. You can also sit for a few minutes and consciously think of things that produce the desired emotion you want, then feel into that emotion. By “feel into” I mean focus on it, feel it and consciously maintain the feeling. Do this as long as you’d like to really get into that state of emotion you want. I recommend at least 20 seconds.

8. Yourself – Mental Commitment

Once you mentally commit to doing something, it has invaluable power to help you align all your resources into it’s completion. Good examples of this are:

• Success stories of people with no plan B.
• The ability for you to finish a 2-week task in 2 days because you know that you need to finish and turn it in by then.

9. Yourself – Mental Identity

The ability to see yourself as the right person for the task at hand. To believe in your ability to do it.

10. Yourself – Mental Flow

As you begin to align more and more elements, it’s easier to align yourself into mental flow or what many productivity gurus simply call “Flow”. It is a state of effortless, and sometimes genius-like, performance and productivity where the passing of time is forgotten, ideas and execution become effortless and brilliant and one is so absorbed in the task at hand that they lose themselves, per say, in the task.

Let’s take a look at some examples of tasks with these steps applied.

This is my setup.

Meditation

1. Environment – Space
   • Using the same space for meditation.
   • Using cushions.
   • Got used to using a blanket during meditation when it was cold, now it feels strange not to cover myself with a blanket. It immediately triggers a meditative state of consciousness.
2. Environment – Music
   • Depending on the type of meditation and outcome, music is optional. I usually prefer no music to lose sensual contact and shift into a loss of ego consciousness. Consciousness of self.
   • I use binaural beats if I want to entrain my brain to a certain frequency.
   • I listen to music to evoke feelings for Metta Meditation.
3. Environment – Lighting
   • No lighting is preferred. Lack of light stimulates pineal gland melatonin production and pineal gland simulation in general – which is great for meditation. 3rd eye stuff haha.
4. Environment – Misc
   • I may use incense or essential oils depending on the desired outcome.
   • Phones on airplane mode. I become very averse to cellphone and wifi frequencies while meditation and afterward.
   • Tibetian singing bowl to cleanse the space before meditation.
5. Yourself – Body
   • My go-to meditation position is half lotus pose.
   • Hands are upright, index finger to thumb usually. That changes depending on the desired outcome.
   • Tounge resting lightly on the roof of my mouth. Known as Jiva Bandha, it facilitates energetic flow.
6. Yourself – Breath
   • Deep and slow for relaxation and oxygenation.
   • Different breathing techniques, or pranayama, have different consciousness-altering effects.
7. Yourself – Emotions
   • I use music, thoughts or visualization to generate certain emotions for desired meditation outcomes. Great for Metta meditation or generating love vibration for the experience in itself and bliss.
8. Yourself – Mental Commitment
   • I meditate every night. I know I’m going to do it and am committed to it, even if it’s late because I’m aware that it benefits my life.
   • The daily routine helps take any question or hesitation out of it.
9. Yourself – Mental Identity
   • I consider myself someone who meditates regularly and is spiritually inclined.
10. Yourself – Mental Flow
    • Everything else mentioned facilitates the energy and triggers the state to get into “flow”. In meditation, flow creates feelings of bliss, expansion and connection; and the absence of fear. I know I’m in flow when I’m in this consciousness state.

Writing

When I write for Consciousness Liberty, here’s my setup.

1. Environment – Space
   • Go to a cafe and order a drink. Usually coffee.
   • I like having the feeling of people around while writing or working.
   • Minimizes the opportunity for distractions or engaging in other activities like being at home does.
   • Preferably a patio or nature scene if the weather is nice.
2. Environment – Music
   • Usually, play a fast or powerful instrumental to free write. Sometimes it’s a slower music flow. Music definitely helps a lot.
   • I use headphones almost all the time when writing in a cafe. I’m looking for immersion into my writing.
3. Environment – Lighting
   • Natural sunlight is preferred. Sitting next to a window or outside.
4. Environment – Misc
   • I like the ambiance of a beautiful cafe.
   • Warm cozy atmosphere or beautiful patio day.
   • As for scents, tastes, and nervous system stimulation – coffee.
5. Yourself – Body
   • Sitting in alert, attentive posture while writing.
6. Yourself – Breath
   • Take a few deep breaths when I get stuck or caught up.
   • I also bring my attention to how I’m breathing from time to time.
7. Yourself – Emotions
   • When writing in flow, I use music to help bring out an emotion related to what I’m writing about. Hands down, big influencer.
8. Yourself – Mental Commitment
   • I drive to the cafe for the sole purpose of writing. When I sit in the chair to write, I’m not going anywhere else, doing anything else – I’m fully committed.
   • I also have a day a week I reserve to write.
9. Yourself – Mental Identity
   • I identify with Consciousness Liberty and the values within it – no question.
10. Yourself – Mental Flow
    • After several minutes, ideas begin to flow and I flow with it. As I follow this ritual, it’s becoming easier and easier to get into flow faster.

So, you get the idea.

If you’re thinking right now, “Oh yeah those are obvious basics,” then congrats, you already understand the concept.

We recognize intuitively when “something is off.” When you’re at a fine dining restaurant and the lighting isn’t right, you’ll feel it. You may not always recognize the specific factor, but you’ll feel it.

The idea is that you apply this concept and checklist of aligning your energy first, then tweak and test to maximize productivity.

How can you maximize alignment in a brainstorming session, before a big speech, before a competition, to facilitate rigorous training, for getting into flow faster, for sustained performance, etc?

Would love to hear your thoughts and experiences!

Here’s to working smarter – not harder!