What does it mean to work in flow?

I can lose hours riding my horses. I can also lose hours at my computer, mapping out how a business works and finding a better way to make it work.

They seem like very different things. But both ask me to pay close attention. Both challenge me. And both can leave me surprised by how quickly the time has passed.

Neither is always easy. That is part of what makes the experience so satisfying.

It is also what led me to ask a question: What would a business look like if it gave people more time for the work that makes them feel this alive?

What is a flow state at work?

A flow state at work is a period when you become fully absorbed in what you are doing. You are focused, challenged and making progress. Your attention stays with the work, and time seems to move differently.

You might feel it when an idea finally comes together, when you find the answer to a difficult problem or when you are so engaged with a customer that you forget to check the clock.

People find that feeling in different places. A pet groomer might find it in the careful, patient work of helping a nervous dog settle. A wedding planner might find it while shaping a celebration that feels entirely like the couple. A plumber might find it in diagnosing a problem that others have struggled to solve.

None of that work is effortless. It calls for experience, judgement and care. But it can be fulfilling enough that you do not have to rely on a burst of motivation to get through it. You want to give it your attention.

That is one of the things I love most about flow. It gives us a chance to use what is best in us. To develop our skills. To do work that feels connected to a purpose, even if the task in front of us looks ordinary to somebody else.

The work you love and the work around it

Starting a business can give you the freedom to spend more of your life doing work you care about.

Then, gradually, other jobs gather around it.

I experienced this when I planned weddings. I loved the thought of families travelling across the world to be together, and of helping create a celebration that mattered to them. I planned weddings for Americans marrying someone from the UK. There was a personal, creative side to that work that drew me in.

There were also hundreds of supplier emails around a wedding. And outside the weddings themselves, there was the printer, the bank accounts, the bills and everything else involved in running a business.

Those things did not arrive all at once. They filled the spaces between the work I loved. Some days, they became most of the day.

Perhaps you recognise that feeling. You finish a task that took skill and concentration, only to remember the email you meant to send before lunch. You return to your work, then stop to find a detail buried in an inbox. By the time you have dealt with everything asking for your attention, the part of the day you hoped to spend creating or thinking has gone.

It is possible to love what you do and still feel tired of everything it takes to do it.

Making room for the genius within you

When I talk about the “genius within us”, I do not mean that everyone needs to produce something extraordinary every day.

I mean the particular combination of ability, experience and perspective that only you bring to your work. The things you notice. The care you take. The way you make someone feel understood. The solution you can see because you have spent years learning your craft.

That part of you needs room.

A pet groomer cannot give a frightened dog their full attention while mentally tracking every unanswered booking request. A plumber working through a complicated repair needs space to think, even if the phone has been ringing all morning. A wedding planner can be present with a couple and their family when the supplier details are somewhere dependable, rather than circling in the back of her mind.

These people will still have admin to do. Every business does. But their best work deserves more than whatever attention is left after everything else has been handled.

Sometimes we assume the answer is to become more disciplined. To wake earlier, focus harder or somehow find more motivation. Yet even someone who cares deeply about their work can struggle to concentrate when they are interrupted again and again.

Flow cannot be forced on demand. We can, though, notice what helps us find it and make more room for those conditions.

A business that makes space for its people

When I first thought of the name Businesses in Flow, I was thinking about more than my own moments of absorption.

I was imagining a business where the people inside it could spend more time doing the work that benefits from being human. Where the details were looked after well enough that they could give their attention to a customer, a difficult decision or a new idea.

That does not mean automating every interaction or removing the challenges that make work interesting. Relationships, creativity and judgement are often the very reasons people choose a small business.

For me, the aim is simple: protect the human parts of the work.

A clear way to record an enquiry can help someone follow it up without having to remember it at dinner. An answer to a common question can be easy to find, freeing up time for the conversation that needs a personal response. A reliable handover can let a team member take a proper break, knowing the next person has what they need.

Small changes like these may sound less exciting than the promise of a tool that will transform a business overnight. They can also make a real difference to the shape of an ordinary Tuesday.

And ordinary Tuesdays are where much of our working lives happen.

What puts you in flow?

Before changing anything, I think it is worth asking yourself what work you want more room for.

When does time pass quickly for you? Which tasks leave you tired but satisfied? What do people come to you for because you bring something to it that they value?

Your answer might have changed since you started your business. The work that energised you five years ago may be different from the work you want to do now. That is useful to know.

Then notice what repeatedly pulls you away from it. You do not need to solve every interruption this week. Choose one that keeps returning and see whether there is a clearer, simpler way to handle it.

The purpose of making that space is not to squeeze another hour of work into every day. You might use it to serve a customer more thoughtfully, develop an idea you have been carrying for months or finish work with enough energy for the rest of your life.

More of the work that makes you feel alive

I do not expect every working day to feel like riding a horse or becoming completely absorbed in a problem I love solving. Some tasks will always feel like tasks. Some days will be difficult.

But I believe our working lives can hold more moments when we are fully there. Moments when we are using our abilities, making progress and remembering why this work matters to us.

A thriving business can make room for those moments. It can also make room for a full life beyond them.

If you would like a starting point for seeing where your business could give you more space, take the five-minute Business Flow Score. As you do, keep this question in mind: What work would you love to spend more of your day doing?