The Complete FLOW Method: How Professionals Turn "Chaos" Into Systematic Competitive Advantage. Part 1.
The framework that transforms scattered thinking into structured success
What if I told you that your "scattered" brain isn't the problem - it's that every productivity system was designed for minds that work nothing like yours?
Today, I'm sharing the complete FLOW Method framework - the system I've spent decades trying to find a perfect system but could not find it. Once I decided to make my own System, I also did not want to throw everything overboard which meant having to start with long learning and implementation cycles.
Developing something that finally works WITH your natural cognition instead of AGAINST it is the secret.
What FLOW Really Means
Let's start with the problems. Which ones do you relate to?
Professional Challenges:
Difficulty sustaining attention on tasks, especially those that aren't immediately engaging?
Problems with planning, organising, and prioritising tasks?
Forgetting appointments, commitments, or important tasks?
Getting easily distracted during meetings and losing crucial information?
Procrastination, especially on boring or difficult tasks?
Challenges with working memory and holding multiple pieces of information in mind?
These struggles often lead to professional anxiety, imposter syndrome, and the constant feeling that you're always one forgotten detail away from looking incompetent.
F: Find Through Connection-Based Capture
Traditional systems ask: "Where should I file this?" But many professionals think: "What is this connected to?"
Instead of forcing information into predetermined categories, FLOW captures the natural associations your brain makes and your notes and Tags reflect. That brilliant insight from a client meeting gets linked to the article you read yesterday, the pattern you noticed last month, and the solution emerging in your mind.
Everything you added in the past will be there when you planned it in the future.
Your brain doesn't think in folders. It thinks in networks.
L: Link via Associative Pathways
Linear minds follow logical sequences: A leads to B leads to C. Associative minds see: A connects to F, which reminds me of M, which solves the problem with Z.
Two of the most important points here:
Timing: when do you know most about the subject and what it could relate to? Let's say it was a customer meeting. That moment is when you just finished the call and stopped the zoom meeting. Preparing for a meeting the weekend before or worse, the same day is a disaster!
Think about the different connecting points from that meeting and think about connecting points from anywhere else: notes from another customer, a screenshot, a book, a recording with a transcript etc. The moment to write it down is now? Where: in the FLOW system it self. Need to enter data? Write by hand, dictate, type and it can be searched later.
FLOW preserves these natural connection patterns. When you capture an idea, you're also capturing its context - the meeting where it emerged, the problem it might solve, the people it could help. You can do this through search, but also with multiple TAGS if you want. And once you have taken care of the 2 important points above, link it to a calendar date. Everything will be there when you need it, in ONE click.
O: Organise with Context Clusters, Not Categories
Traditional filing: Sort by topic, project, or date.
FLOW organising: Group by meaning, association, and potential use.
Information organises itself around the problems you're solving and the patterns you're recognising. The system learns how your specific brain makes connections.
What is important here is to remember that not all activities are equal. The lawyer will not need the same functionality as the solopreneur.
W: Work with Automatic Information Assembly
This is where the magic happens. When you need information, FLOW doesn't make you remember where you put it. It assembles everything contextually related and presents it when needed.
Opening tomorrow's client meeting? Every relevant note, email, insight, and connection appears automatically. No searching, no reconstruction, no lost context.
Why Traditional Systems Fail Many Professionals
The science is clear: different brains process information differently.
Linear systems assume:
You'll remember filing decisions made weeks ago
Categories remain static over time
Information belongs in single locations
Retrieval follows the same path as storage
The reality for many professionals:
We remember context better than location
Our understanding evolves and connections shift
Information connects across multiple domains
We retrieve through association, not classification
Dr Nancy McIntyre's research showed entrepreneurs use "patterns and habits like a big net that captures and stores stimuli for later use." Traditional systems break this net. FLOW strengthens it.
What Changes When You Work WITH Your Brain
Protected Flow State
Remember that feeling when you're completely absorbed in work? Time disappears, solutions emerge effortlessly, everything clicks?
You know this feeling from other areas - like when a golfer is completely "in the zone" and every shot feels effortless. Professionals lose this state every 15 minutes hunting for information. FLOW protects it by eliminating search interruptions.
Instead of being pulled out of this state every 15 minutes to hunt for files, you stay in the zone or you have Flow in your current activity.
1.5 Hours Daily Reclaimed
Those research studies showing professionals waste 90 minutes daily searching for information? Many professionals lose more because they capture differently than they retrieve.
FLOW clients typically reclaim 1.5-2 hours daily. Not through efficiency gains, but by eliminating the search-and-reconstruct cycle entirely.
Cognitive Load Reduction
The mental effort of remembering where you put things, what you called files, which app contains what - that background processing drain disappears.
Your brain stops being a filing clerk and returns to being a pattern-recognition powerhouse.
One remark: you do not need to learn any new app for recording, writing, screen saving, attachments, etc.
But don't forget how you should work, otherwise you won't reach the levels of the Goldman Sachs people.
The Flow system needs help. How does that work? Try to get as close as you can to how people like Steve Jobs worked: 80% Signal -- 20% Noise. It cannot be better explained than in this video interview with Kevin O'Leary (who worked for Jobs for 3 years)
Here is what I try to live by:
80% Signal
90% Organised
100% Ready
Natural Confidence
When your system works with your thinking style instead of against it, imposter syndrome fades. You stop apologising for how your brain works and start leveraging it.
The Professional Revolution
Last week, I shared how Goldman Sachs trading floors are "full of people with ADHD" because financial markets reward exactly these cognitive traits.
But here's what Wall Street may not have solved: How do you leverage these advantages when you're not on a trading floor?
How do you maintain pattern recognition when traditional systems fragment your thinking? How do you preserve those rapid connections when filing systems break the flow? How do you work with your natural cognition in environments designed for linear minds?
The FLOW Method is the answer. It's the bridge between recognising your cognitive advantages and actually leveraging them systematically.
The FLOW Method: Your Implementation Path
The FLOW Method framework gives you the thinking model. But frameworks don't organise information - systems do.
After years of refining this approach for my own productivity challenges, I've developed practical implementation tools that transform this framework into daily action.
Coming Next Tuesday: Limited Access Opportunity
In Part 2 of this series, I'll be opening access to the FLOW Method Implementation System to just 20 readers. This exclusive opportunity will include:
· The complete FLOW Method implementation guide
· Essential templates and workflows
· Priority access to upcoming advanced resources
For those serious about transforming their productivity, securing one of these limited spots will require a small commitment. The full details, including the implementation path and investment options, will be revealed next Tuesday.
If you know this approach could transform how you work, mark your calendar for next Tuesday's newsletter.
Jan De Kesel
Thinking-Time Newsletter