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Simplifying “Mind Like Water” from Getting Things Done – Laura Earnest Archive
Productivity,  Simplify

Simplifying “Mind Like Water” from Getting Things Done

Wednesdays are simplicity days at SimpleProductivity blog.


Photo by aussiegall

“Mind like water” is a concept that is often tossed about when people are discussing the book Getting Things Done. Today we are going to look at what it really means, and put it in terms more of us can understand: zone.

What Is Mind Like Water?

Mind like water is a concept from martial arts where you respond to a stimulus appropriately and then go back into a waiting state.

Think of it this way: a puddle is calm. You throw a rock in, and waves radiate out from the rock, and then the puddle goes back to calm again.

Mind like water is a concept used to help us find the waiting state.

Problems With This Analogy

I’ve never liked this analogy. It is a good way to be if you are meditating. But in today’s hustle and bustle, is there really any calm state? My mind is never like that during the day, and I know of no one else who can manage it while balancing work, family and other commitments.

The waiting, calm, unruffled state is not one that most of our minds exist in.

The Strengths of the Analogy

The strength of this example, though, lies in the response. The puddle neither skips the stone off its surface (we are assuming it isn’t fozen, of course), nor does it produce a tidal wave to deal with the rock.

The response is appropriate to the stimulus, neither too great nor too mild.

Great. Rocks, Water. How Does This Work?

Here is the thing that I captured on this latest re-read of Getting Things Done. Tucked in with the “mind like water” is the concept of Zone.

It’s not about a still mind. It’s not just about responding appropriately. It’s about getting into the state of mind known as Zone so that you can get the maximum amount of stuff done.

What Is Zone?

Zone is a universal human concept. Zone is when we are so focused on what we are doing that we accomplish a great deal. It is when we are so immersed in the task at hand that time flies by.

Think about it. You have had times when you were in the Zone.

How It Fits Together

The state for getting the maximum of stuff done is going to be the Zone. You are totally focused on the task at hand. Your ideas flow effortlessly. This means that pretty much anything that comes at you is not going to be processed, because you are completely focused on what you are doing. This isn’t going to happen very often.

Most of the time, you won’t be in the Zone. You will be in a state of semi-zone, where you are working pretty well, but where things can quickly derail you.

You can’t work to your best if you are being distracted by all sorts of little things flying at you. This is where the concept of mind like water comes in.

You are humming along in a project at work, and suddenly remember you are out of toilet paper at home. This thought is your rock. How do you respond? If you choose to ignore it, the thought is going to intrude on your work because you will continue to have that thought in various forms until you take care of it.

Conversely, you don’t jump up from your desk, grab your coat and run to the nearest store to buy toilet paper. That is the tidal wave response.

You have to find the correct level of response so that you can quickly deal with the distraction, and get back to what you were doing.

In our example, you can make a note to pick up toilet paper on your way home from work. You make that note in a place where you know you will see it and take care of it at that time. Your brain relaxes, and you are allowed to continue working.


The best place for optimum productivity is the Zone. We don’t work there all the time, though. Most times we are distractable, and that is when you need to respond appropriately to the distraction before turning your attention back to what you were doing.


Photo by aussiegall. Licensed under Creative Commons.