Flow state relies on a constant information inflow that holds your attention perfectly, often hinging on competency and challenge. You can't enter it in AI coding because you need to wait for replies. It's incompatible.

I just watch YouTube in the downtime these days, or movies that I don't care too much about

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embedding-shape 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> Flow state relies on a constant information inflow

Does that mean when I'm in deep thinking without any external "information inflow" I'm not "in flow state"?

I'd agree that waiting for replies kind of pulls you out of flow if you just sit and wait, but I'm not sure why you'd do that. You can continue working along-side, validate, or continue iterating on the design while the agent does other things.

	▲	munk-a 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		When you're deep thinking you have a constant information inflow that's coming from your own thoughts. This is different from relying on an exterior tool because in that scenario your brain is blocked from thinking by relying on that tool giving it a breather to wander off a garden path. That isn't necessarily a bad thing (it's nice to give your brain a stare off into the distance break every once in a while) but if you've adapted your thinking and working style to the constant inflow and outflow of information it can be highly disruptive.

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kranner 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Meditation teacher Michael Taft recommends "dropping into awake awareness" whenever you're waiting for a response. [1]

It's the opposite of watching YouTube, pretty much.

[1] https://x.com/OortCloudAtlas/status/2062208343192769004

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kilroy123 3 hours ago | parent [-]

Interesting. I still don't get what that means. Ironically, he suggests you just watch his YouTube.

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andrei_says_ 3 hours ago | parent [-]

Not sure what the OP or the person in the videos means but a direct, fast way I have found to “drop in” is to stop thinking and intensify my awareness of everything. Takes about 5-10 seconds to transition into a nonthinking timeless presence.

Attention is on the full body, and the field of perception, then field of awareness, all at the same time.

A bit like shavasana practice, but instead of scanning part by part, expand presence to everything.

The thinking analytical mind stops, the nonthinking mind activates and softly intensifies.

	▲	kranner 2 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Yes this would be one “provisional” method among many, maybe hundreds of techniques but they all seem to lead to the same place as one gets familiar. In Buddhist Vajrayana schools this is called “non-meditation”. The ultimate instruction is to simply do nothing, but this requires a bit of initiation (and paradoxically, concentration) to get right. Michael Taft has many different guided approaches to this on his channel but there are many other teachers as well, e.g. Adyashanti, Angelo Dillulo, Loch Kelly, Shinzen Young (specifically his Do Nothing and Auto Focus techniques) and expanding the gamut to traditional Vajrayana teachers, Lama Lena, Mingyur Rinpoche, Lama Dawai Gocha, all with accessible online teachings. Also Sayadaw U Tejaniya and Christopher Wallis who are less conventional, so to speak.
	▲	jpcom 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		don't forget the love :)

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jasonjayr 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

There's an XKCD for that, "Compiling" : https://xkcd.com/303/

	▲	noworriesnate 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		The difference is your boss isn’t going to fire the middleman so he can talk straight to the compiler