Embrace Uncertainty and Wandering
Embrace boredom and uncertainty. Things don't always go as planned. Unexpected events happen. A day can bring unplanned moments, and often opportunities or experiences you won't regret come from these days.
Embrace wandering and deciding in the moment without feeling guilty. This isn't wasting time. Time is wasted in other ways, by filling your mind with junk. But when you let your mind wander freely, explore, experiment, even slowly, you shouldn't feel guilty about it.
This freedom allows your mind to find new ideas and process information better subconsciously. When you're not forcing productivity or filling every moment with planned activities, space opens up for genuine insight and creativity.
Maybe it's not the right time. Timing matters in life, and sometimes you need patience to wait for the right opportunity. If you're too busy, you might miss it when it arrives.
Working on Meaningful Problems
The flow state brings satisfaction. To stay in flow, ideally work on problems that give you satisfaction as you work. This is one of the many conditions that contribute to achieving flow state.
As Paul Graham notes, if you want to do great work, working on what interests you most is not just helpful but necessary. The root of great work is ambitious curiosity, and you can't manufacture that. When you choose work you're genuinely interested in, you'll be surrounded mostly by others who share that genuine interest, which makes the work extra inspiring.