I first heard of the concept of “flow” when I saw it on a list of “12 things happy people do differently” in July of last year. On that list, flow was described as “a state in which it feels like time stands still and you are so focused on what you are doing you become one with the task” and “nothing is distracting you or competing with your focus.”
The concept has intrigued me ever since. And really, eluded me. I wanted to get to this sacred flow state, dammit! It sounds like a nice place to be.
So I was really excited when Running Times featured an article about flow (pdf here), and put in this chart that explained so much to me:
Gah! I see why I don’t have flow that often! I spend most of my time in the other three areas of the chart – anxiety, apathy or boredom!
On what part of the chart do you spend most of your time?
This chart made so much sense to me, I got, um, a little over excited, and found myself telling a lot of people about it. I felt like I found the secret to get to flow, and wanted to share it – just match a high challenge with high skills.
Ha ha, of course, it’s a little more than that, but I feel like this chart, and article, really lead me in the right direction.
This article is mostly spoke about flow in running (and how to get there!), which has only happened to me a few times (and is different than a runner’s high). But it did mention how flow experiences are important for life, and that it’s important you have a lot of small ones, not a few huge ones. Just a few highlights from the article:
People are happiest when they do activities that require skill and concentration. This may come as a surprise given our cultural attitudes toward difficult work (negative) and passive leisure (positive), but decades of research have shown that people report better moods and feelings when confronted with challenging tasks that have clear objectives.
When you become deeply involved in autotelic activities to the point that your mind no longer wanders, Csikszentmihalyi found that you enter a mental state known as flow.
And that [flow] can be very enjoyable. Note the use of the word “enjoyable” and not “entertaining” or “pleasurable.” Passive activities like watching television or twiddling with a smartphone turn the mind off by bombarding it with a stream of unimportant information. Sensual pleasures, like eating ice cream, occur automatically, requiring no focus or skill. Flow activities like running engage and challenge a person. In fact, it is the challenge that makes running so enjoyable.
Flow occurs in those settings where people devote their full attention to their tasks and find ways to make their work challenging. Odds are you encounter small flow moments all the time when working on a complex problem at the office, cooking or designing a new piece of furniture in the workshop. Seeking out these types of smaller flow moments, in fact, is one of the keys to finding lasting happiness.
“There is evidence that for the quality of your life, it’s better to have a lot of smaller flow experiences than to have a few large ones,” Csikszentmihalyi says. “If you achieve flow only very occasionally in special conditions, you spend the rest of your life wondering, ‘Why can’t I achieve this more often?’ “
And after reading this I figured out my go to flow state – editing photos / working in Photoshop. It’s challenging and I feel like I have the skills to do it. I definitely get lost in it, and do find it enjoyable.
Now, if only I could get more flow at work!
Thank you for sharing that!!! Such a cool graphic. I think I find myself in the bottom half of that chart way too often, usually the bottom right. I totally agree with the statement of “people report better moods and feelings when confronted with challenging tasks that have clear objectives.” That’s what I want at work!! But, I have such difficulty finding jobs that challenge me in ways that I want to be challenged (i.e. the top right corner of the graph).
You are welcome! I absolutely thought of you and your work situation when I was reading this and writing this post! I hope you find your way to the top right corner 🙂
Sometimes it is the easiest of things that need to be put right in front of our faces. Common sense and intuition are not as easy as they should be!
I love this, and I think I really understand the concept of flow (though I don’t often get it!). When I think back on times when I’ve had a LOT to do, whether that be at my job or back in school or even with minor things like chores or baking or whatever, there have definitely been times where I’ve been able to get “in the zone” (especially when it comes to baking!) and just knock things out left and right. I definitely feel challenged, and while it’s usually stressful to start (“How am I ever going to get all of this done?!”), I feel SO satisfied when I do finish things–or at least feel satisfied while I’m doing things I enjoy doing. Once we shift from doing what I enjoy to something I don’t enjoy (i.e.: baking vs. doing the baking dishes), then boredom definitely creeps in. This happens to me fairly often at work–it’s why I blog and read blogs, to be honest–and I would love to some day have a job that keeps me mentally engaged and interested in that state of flow rather than boredom.
Also, I would really like to know how to pronounce “Csikszentmihalyi.” That’s a loooooong last name!
That is good you have found flow in baking! I think so many of us wish we had it at work.
Ha ha. NO idea how to pronounce that!!! 😀
This is the first time I’ve heard of “flow”, but perhaps I can relate it to something that happened to me. I was running on the LFT this morning laboring along, letting my mind wander as I went. Another runner came up behind me and passed me. I was trying to not let the fact that I got passed by a random person tick me off, but my competitive instinct must have kicked in because I wanted to speed up and pass them. Moments later, a bicyclist also passed me (going even faster) and I decided to keep up with it, locking my gaze on the bike’s back tire, running just a yard behind the bike. What was a slow, labored run, became fast and effortless. I kept running and staring at the bike’s back tire until, before I knew it, I was at least 200 yards ahead of the runner that had previously passed me. I think I was in the “flow” for those moments. Complete focus on the task at hand, and yes, these small moments do make me happy!
That is exactly how the first example in the article described flow so I think you were experiencing it! 🙂
So this is why I liked doing science. High skill, lots of knowledge and analytical thinking required. I’ll have to read through the article–sounds really interesting! Thanks for sharing!
I haven’t heard it called this, but when I get to the “flow” state I almost feel a “high” if that makes sense. I get it both in working with computers and teaching at times.
I totally get into a “flow” mode! My husband calls it my turbo mode though. haha!
Interesting! I’m glad you found some…can you send some to me?
Well this explains why my husband loses all sense of time when he steps foot into his garage.