What is Flow?
Hungarian-American positive psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced “Me high? Cheeks send me high!”) coined the term flow to explain the state of complete immersion in a task. It is the experience of being “in the zone”, where you lose your sense of time and space engaging in an immersive activity.
“The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times . . . The best moments usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile”
Csikszentmihalyi, 1990
Csikszentmihalyi’s 8 Elements of Flow
1. Full concentration on the task at hand.
2. Clear goals and immediate feedback.
3. Balance between skills and challenge.
4. Feeling of control over the task.
5. Effortlessness.
6. Altered perception of time.
7. Integration of actions and awareness.
8. An intrinsically rewarding experience.
Why is Flow Important?
The flow experience is an important component of creativity, productivity, and well-being. It is a key aspect of human self-actualization and has been proven by researchers to enhance performance in art, sport, organizations and education. As flow is intrinsically rewarding, the desire to replicate the experience increases with practice. The flow state encourages mastery of skills, prompting you to continually seek new challenges so that you can maintain this state. Ultimately, flow helps you attain a fully engaged and wholesome life.
Quality projects require ample time and concentration which can be cultivated through the flow state. This is because flow teaches you the productive value of single-tasking, rather than multi-tasking. Flow cultivates focus, instead of being constantly interrupted by minor distractions. By losing yourself in your work, you achieve more enjoyment, reduce stress and increase quality output. You achieve true productivity and meaningful goals rather than just mindlessly riding the busy-bandwagon.
How Can We Achieve Flow?
1. Eliminate distractions
Stepping away from attention-thieves in our lives is crucial for achieving flow. This includes putting away our phones and setting up a distraction-free zone. It is also helpful to Marie Kondo your desk regularly, even if it means sweeping miscellaneous papers into a “sort-later” folder.
2. Find your “flow circadian rhythm”
It is important to understand your energy rhythms to find your prime concentration time. Everyone has their own specific circadian rhythm for flow. The time you choose is the one where you can easily derive a sustainable amount of energy and mental focus. For a morning person like me, I achieve flow best early in the day. Night owls may get their peak energy later in the day and that’s fine too.
3. Balance perceived challenges and skills
Jeanne Nakamura, cofounder of positive psychology alongside Csikszentmihalyi, emphasized that inducing flow is about the balance between level of skill and size of challenge. When a challenge is bigger than one’s skill, one becomes overwhelmed and anxious. However, when skill exceeds challenge, one becomes bored and uninterested. It may require some trial and error to adjust your appropriate level of difficulty, but the balance between these two elements is essential for achieving flow.
4. Practice the Art of Focus
Many of us are experts at multi-tasking and constantly switching between tasks. However, achieving flow requires us to practice the art of focus. My advice: just start and momentum will follow. It may take a bit of self-discipline at first but practice makes progress. The goal is to fine-tune your ability to overcome mental and physical disruptions and to establish your priorities. Quoting Bertrand Russell, “To be able to concentrate for a considerable time is essential to difficult achievement.”
Concluding Thoughts
Being in flow is being in a blissful state of productive balance. We all strive to enjoy our work while performing at our peak potential. Flow gives us the exhilarating experience of being fully immersed in a task while being completely free from distractions.
I hope this article enlightened you about the psychology behind flow and how to achieve more of it in your daily life. Hence, I close this article with a few wise words by Csikszentmihalyi himself…
“The optimal state of inner experience is one in which there is order in consciousness. This happens when psychic energy — or attention — is invested in realistic goals, and when skills match the opportunities for action. The pursuit of a goal brings order in awareness because a person must concentrate attention on the task at hand and momentarily forget everything else.”
Csikszentmihalyi, 1990
