Achieve optimum productivity by reaching 'flow state'

To produce our best work and achieve optimum productivity we need to get into what psychologists call a 'flow state'.

According to positive psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, flow state is the mental state of a person fully immersed and focused on performing an activity.  

In a working environment flow is likely to occur when you are faced with a task that has clear goals that require specific responses and are given the space to focus entirely on the task.

It takes the average person 15 minutes to reach flow state. As David Coplin of Microsoft UK says when was the last time you had 15 minutes where you weren't distracted by a phone call, email or someone telling you about a cat video on YouTube?

So far it has taken me 2 hours of broken focus to research and write this article.  Emails pop up, clients drop in, telephones ring, stomachs rumble.  There are distractions everywhere.

As such I have decided that all future articles will be researched and written with my email alerts turned off, my calls on divert to the Virtual Office receptionists and with a fresh cup of tea beside me.

I am looking forward to totally immersing myself in a writing and researching. 

However right now I'm distracted by that fresh cup of tea.

Image Is Everything

Last week we talked about how using a Virtual Office can save you money and help when you launch your company as well as during the course of its life. This week, we explore how a Virtual office can give you the impression of a larger and more established company and how that impacts your clients' and potential clients' perception of your business.

Many people are now starting businesses from home to avoid lots of the start up costs, but it can be difficult to maintain a professional image. There are ways to mitigate risk while making every pound count! By using a Virtual Office, you can have the impression of occupying a prestigious prime location office at 10-20% of the cost because you are sharing the overhead with other businesses. With Virtual Offices, you can sign up for an address, a telephone number, and have a receptionist personally answer and transfer your calls to you so you can prioritise your work and be prepared for each call. All of your faxes and your mail can be forwarded to you and you can have access to meeting rooms and hotdesk space if you don’t need a whole permanent office for your company. Virtual Offices also have options for growth – eventually your company will prosper and when it does, you can have the opportunity to take up permanent serviced office space on the premises or to add employees to your package.

Having your client facing operations in impeccable order is important because clients may feel more comfortable working with someone who looks quite established and accomplished. A great central London address and telephone number is also very powerful to anchor your webpage, whether it be as a main address or as an international branch for companies trying to startup on a worldwide scale.

Really, people starting businesses should seriously consider the options and flexibility associated with a virtual office. It is a complete toolkit to help you get on your feet quickly and gives you what you need to forge ahead of your competitors.

Cheryl