I was recently watching a documentary about my favorite singer, Elton John, and my favorite album, "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," a 1973 double album that ranks with the greatest of all time.
I knew that Elton, his lyricist Bernie Taupin, his band, and his production team had holed up in Jamaica to knock out the entire double album in three weeks, which is astonishingly fast. But I didn't know the details.
In the documentary, the team described being in such a flow and at such a peak of their capabilities that they were creating a song, from the first pen to paper for lyrics, to the final wrap on production, in a four-hour window, on average. That is unheard of! Tremendous skill and trust were key ingredients to this accomplishment.
I'm trying to get into the flow this week as I work towards completion of two new books at the same time - my own "double album," so to speak. They are wildly distinct. One is "Unison Parenting: 9 Ways to Navigate Christian Parenthood with One Voice." The other is "From Comfort Zone to Trust Zone: How Jesus Urges Us to Take Leaps of Faith for His Kingdom."
Not only am I writing, but I'm working with my artist, with the publisher, interviewing parents as examples for the parenting book, and trialing "From Comfort Zone to Trust Zone" in my home Sunday School class. Yesterday a visitor commented, "That was the best Sunday School lesson I've ever heard!" So, I'm hoping people will truly benefit from the work.
What about you? Have you ever been in "the flow?" How do you achieve maximum productivity? If you have comments, please share them below. And please stay tuned for more information on my books in the coming weeks!