When I was building presentOS I was often reminded of the sensation I had as a kid on Christmas morning, with a brand new Lego Technic set in front of me to “solve”. Hours just gone. Hard enough that I couldn’t figure it out right away. Easy enough that I knew I would, eventually, if I kept going. That perfect ratio!
It turns out that ratio has a name. It’s the recipe for flow state, first introduced by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi:
“Enjoyment appears at the boundary between boredom and anxiety, when the challenges are just balanced with the person’s capacity to act.”
I’m in flow almost immediately, when I work on Present.
I’m a graphic designer by trade. Typography, posters, magazines, books, layouts. But I always loved to tinker on more technical projects on the side. I built my own websites for years, but now I finally had the courage to build the app I wanted to build for so long.
But there is also no real finish line. And I don’t want to stop. It’s too much fun. Which weirdly worried me.
I have actual clients who pay actual money. Present doesn’t yet. So when I noticed myself wanting to spend every spare hour on this Thing, I found myself trying to hold back. Should I really give this much time to a passion project? That question played in my head for weeks.
There’s a strange guilt that comes with loving your Thing too much. At some point I just stopped fighting it.
I’ve wanted to build an app for ten years. The tools finally caught up. It clicked and I realized there are almost no more technical limitations for me to build whatever I want. This feels really empowering. The work pulls me in like nothing else has in a long time. So I gave in. I accepted the obsession and locked in.
I won’t pretend it’s easy. I’ve reduced the amount of clients a lot. That means I also take risks and leave offers on the table. I’m often stressed, scattered, juggling everything at once. That’s the honest part.
But what I’ve learned is to give in to my one Thing. To actually finish something properly instead of switching constantly between everything. To trust that going all-in on the pull, for a real stretch of time, is how the Thing actually gets built.
Our Resistance is most often about starting. The fight to sit down. The fight to begin. But there’s another kind of Resistance we talk about more rarely. It’s Resistance to your own absorption. Holding yourself back when something is going well. Treating real joy in your work as somehow suspicious. That’s also bullshit.
When something pulls you that hard, it’s not a problem. It’s information.
Your attention, your skills, your curiosity are lining up. Those alignments are rare. Most of life you’re working slightly against yourself. When you find a project where you're working with yourself, give it everything.
Csíkszentmihály’s whole research wasn’t about productivity. It was about happiness. Flow is the state where humans report being most happy. Not relaxed-happy. Deeply, fully happy. The process itself becomes the reward. Money, recognition, all of it becomes secondary to the simple pleasure of being lost in something that matters to you.
That’s not a side effect. That’s the whole point.
And here’s the thing about our present: we’re pulled in more directions than ever. Apps, feeds, side projects, people we should follow, things we should learn.
The ability to obsess over one Thing is becoming rare. Anyone who can still go all-in on something is doing something most people can’t anymore.
Cherish your obsession.
If there’s a project you keep returning to. That you sneak time for. That you’d rather do than almost anything else. That makes hours vanish.
Don’t apologize for it. Don’t ration it. Lock in. Give it some time!
See what it wants to become.
What’s the Thing you’re trying not to be obsessed with right now?
This is an extract from my upcoming book that I’m writing to help as many people as possible. It’s called Stop Postponing Yourself: Do The Thing. A Modern Maker Manifesto and is now available for pre-ordering. There are still a few spots left for the Early Bird Offer that comes with special perks and helps me build this.
If you want to join a supportive group of 264 makers from all around the world, check out our Present Space. We are meeting in the Consistency Club every two weeks to talk about the bliss and struggles of getting closer to our Favorite Unrealized Projects.
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