On today’s episode of Make + Design, Carina talks about flow state and not just how to find it but how to create it. Carina has discovered that to be the best designer possible producing the best work, she needs to get into flow. Flow occurs when you are so absorbed in the thing at hand that time stands still, you don’t notice the things around you, and you find yourself in an amazing state where you just move forward. Sometimes we don’t notice we’re in flow until after the fact. Flow state has a lot of amazing benefits: your enjoyment goes up, your ability goes insane, and you even get a dopamine hit. For Carina, there are some really specific things that get her into flow. As you evaluate when you get into flow, pay attention to the things that got you there (did you have a big block of time or was it something else?). __________ Download Carina’s free guide: The 7 Tips Nobody Will Tell You About Becoming a Surface Pattern Designer here: http://eepurl.com/dN2RcY  __________   About Carina Gardner: Carina Gardner is a fabric designer, paper designer, and design educator who is passionate about helping other designers fulfill their creative dreams by teaching them her strategies for making money as a designer. She has a Ph.D. in Design and taught design at the University of Minnesota before starting Carina Gardner, Inc.   Carina Gardner, Inc design brand has been featured in dish ware, holiday decor, sewing patterns, and more. Her exclusive Design Suite Program helps creatives make money designing as they learn to design. Her programs include Illustrator and Photoshop training, surface pattern design, paper design, Silhouette & Cricut file design, and running a design business. She started the Make and Design Podcast so that she could share inspiration, stories, and experiences about design and life with crafters and designers.   Find out more at https://www.carinagardner.com Check out her most popular program, Design Bootcamp, here: http://www.carinagardnercourses.com/designbootcamp  Watch this episode as a video at https://www.makeanddesign.com/