Ask HN: How do you get into a flow state when using AI to code?

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Summary

A Hacker News user asks how to maintain flow state when coding with AI, describing the shift from long flow states to multiple short ones and suggests parallel idea exploration.

Before agentic coding, I always prided myself on how long I could work in a flow state. I was really good at working deeply.<p>Now, with slow agents like Claude, I find myself no longer working deeply.<p>What are you all doing to stay focused?
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Cached at: 06/11/26, 04:36 PM

# Ask HN: How do you get into a flow state when using AI to code? Source: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48492118](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48492118) For me the flow state has always come from a sensation of creative juices spawning ideas, a vision for an end result, and the deep focus that ensues in working towards that\. Such a cycle previously could take hours or days, resulting in long, deep flow states\. But now I go through dozens such cycles a day\. So less of a single flow state, more so many short flow states\. As for waiting, that’s when you can explore another idea in parallel\. Double the flow states for me :\)

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