This is something that I have noticed more and more and after a good number of years have come to the conclusion that this something real. Although the ability to verify this by scientific means is difficult, I hope that this you’ll agree with me if you have ever experienced it. What am I referring to? Well, have you ever been so involved in a task or an activity that once you look up from your activity, you realise that a good few hours have passed and you haven’t noticed? How about being so engrossed in a book that you realise that the sun has begun to set after pretty much a whole day of sitting in one position. You then think to yourself “wow, what happened to the time?”
This activity can be attributed to what some call the ‘Flow state’ .
So what is Flow State?
If you look around the internet you may run into a number of different interpretations. For example, wikipedia says:
A mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus..
Brett Peters mentions on his site: It’s what athletes call being “in the zone,” where we’re completely immersed in an activity with high level focus and it feels like everything working out perfectly, moment by moment. Flow is the optimal state of consciousness for peak performance.
Discovered and named by a world-famous psychologist Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi the author of the best-selling book Flow: The psychology of happiness. In a TED Talk called Flow — The Secret to Happiness, Dr. Csikszentmihalyi explains that when you’re fully involved in the process of creating something, your brain doesn’t have enough leftover capacity to monitor how your body feels. In an interview with Wired magazine he described flow as “being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you are using your skills to the utmost.“
So we can see that it’s a state or condition under which we are engrossed in an activity and pretty much the outside world goes by unnoticed for a period of time.
- You’re totally involved in what you’re doing. You’re completely focused and concentrated.
- There’s a sense of ecstasy — of being outside the everyday reality.
- There’s great inner clarity. You know what needs to be done and you get immediate feedback on how well you’re doing.
- You know that the activity is doable and that you have the necessary skills to complete the task successfully.
- You lose your sense of self, and all of your worries and excuses drift away.
- You lose track of time and you’re fully focused on the present moment.
- There’s an intrinsic motivation — whatever produces flow becomes its own reward.
How do we get into this flow state to meet our objectives?
Challenge vs Skill
To achieve this state of flow, certain condition are needed. The first is some form of a challenge and the other is the skill to meet the challenge. Within the required condition, there needs to be a balance or an agreement between the two (challenge and skill) such that: the challenge tests our skill but the skill is just enough to meet the challenge to the point of almost stretching our ability to the maximum.
- Challenge yourself
- Have a target
- Set a positive environment (etc. Music, surroundings)
- Focus and Concentrate
- Become one with activity – Almost melt in with the activity to the point that you are not actively thinking about it
- Reward yourself – having something to look forward to after completing you objective
Are there any negatives to Flow states?
Like anything in life, too much of anything can be bad for you. Whilst you can immerse yourself in an positive uplifting in order to improve yourself using flow, conversely the same energy can be used in pursuing something that can draw you into a downward spiral of negativity. It is best to steer clear of anything that can move you toward the darker side of things.
Sources and further reading:
- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life
- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Good Business: Leadership, Flow, and the Making of Meaning
- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Flow, the secret to happiness
- Daniel Goleman, Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence
- Steven Kotler, The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance
- Steven Kotler, What The Science Of Flow Can Teach Us About Limitless Performance
- Brett Peters, https://brett-peters.com/flow-state