Getting into the Flow State
Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi wrote a book in 2008 with this title - Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. He called flow:
The key to unlocking meaning, creativity, and true happiness.
His thesis, based on investigations of "optimal experience," revealed that an activity which is authentically satisfying creates a state of consciousness called flow. Once the state of flow is reached, people usually feel an abundant amount of:
Creativity
Deep enjoyment
Total involvement with life
Research
It was in the 1970s that Csikszentmihalyi started his study, which soon became one of the most extensive psychological surveys ever produced. He asked people across the globe about times in their lives when they "felt the best and performed their best." He started his research with experts in their own fields, such as dancers, athletes, surgeons, chess players, and more. He then began questioning the "everyman" of different work areas and geological areas. For example:
Farmers in Italy
Japanese teenage motorcycle gang members
Chicago's assembly line workers, and many more
And, across the board, everyone he questioned referred to a similar experience that occurred when they felt and performed at their best. Csikszentmihalyi called it "flow" because in his interviews this word was often used to describe the feeling those who were surveyed perceived. The seamless fluidity experienced by those polled always had a connection to the word flow.
His thesis, based on investigations of "optimal experience" revealed that an activity that is authentically satisfying creates a state of consciousness called flow. Once the state of flow is reached, people usually attain:
Creativity
Deep enjoyment
Total involvement with life
Csikszentmihalyi, in the latest edition of his book, shows how flow can be controlled rather than waiting for it to occur by chance. His idea is to organize the information that enters our consciousness. By doing so, he explains, we can discover how to improve the quality of our lives significantly and find true happiness.
Support for Csikszentmihalyi's Theory
In the past fourteen years, enormous progress has taken place in the understanding of flow. Brain imaging technologies can now use extensive metrics to measure what was, in the past, only subjective.The flow state is reached by a wide-ranging change in normal brain function. American University in Beirut neuroscientist Arne Dietrich, who partnered in the discovery this effect, says:
It's an efficiency exchange. We're trading energy usually used for higher cognitive functions for heightened attention and awareness.Technically, this exchange is known as transient hypofrontality. In other words, any brain function that would affect rapid-fire decision-making is shut down.
Effects of Flow
Csikszentmihalyi explains that ten factors exist when a person is experiencing flow:
Immediate feedback
Knowing the task is doable; a balance between a person's skill level and the challenge presented
Lack of awareness of physical needs
Strong concentration and focused attention
Feelings of personal control over the situation at hand
Complete focus on the activity itself
Clear goals that are challenging but attainable
Feelings of serenity along with no self-consciousness
Timelessness; a distorted sense of time; feelings of being so focused on the present that a person loses track of time passing
The activity is intrinsically rewarding
How to Attain Flow
Although the flow state makes many tasks easier to accomplish and increases productivity, the primary benefit of reaching this state is leading a happier and more enjoyable life. When this experience occurs at work, that makes your life even better.The flow state can be achieved while washing dishes, hiking, exercising, almost during any activity, but usually not while watching TV or sitting in front of any screen. However, it is not the activity that matters, it is the sense of creativity and excitement that induce flow states.
Some steps that help you enter the state of flow include:
1. Doing your best to eliminate distractions. This is a difficult mission in the era of multitasking, open-door policies, and, of course, the Internet. Just try to eliminate inevitable disturbances as much as possible and in a way that won't offend fellow-workers or administrators.
Turn off your phone
Wear headphones
Go to a library
Speaking of multitasking, Csikszentmihalyi would tell you not to do it. According to Susan Weinschenk, Ph.D., writing for Psychology Today, you can lose up to 40% of your productivity if you multitask. A better way to describe multitasking, says Weinschenk is task-switching. Here's what happens:
The task you are trying to complete will take more time if you switch to others than it would if you just stuck to the original project.
More errors occur.
The more complex the task, the more errors that are made and the more time is lost
Scientifically, when a person task-switches several parts of the brain are involved, so shifting and focusing on a new activity takes more time.
2. Work on the most pressing task first since it is probably the task that your mind is focusing on anyway.
3. Get the correct amount of sleep. Fatigue causes loss of the ability to concentrate.
4. When a task is monotonous or boring, challenge yourself in creative ways. See how many steps of the job you can complete in twenty minutes. Think of stories related to the mundane task that needs to be completed.
5. Impose more structure into free time. Instead of just zoning out, shape the time into something that can be enjoyed.
Csikszentmihalyi recognized three things that must be in place to enter a state of flow. They were:
Goals – To add structure and motivation to what is at hand, goals are necessary. Without working toward a goal, you will not experience flow.
Balance – Be sure there is a balance between the perceived skill necessary for and the perceived challenge of the task.
Feedback – Feedback is the basis on which a person makes changes and improves personal performance. Feedback can come from others or the awareness that progress is being made.
On-the-Job Realities
We are supporters of the flow mentality. We think that a person who can achieve the flow state at his or her job is doing everything right. But if you are working for a company or firm where it is impossible to reach flow, you are probably in the wrong job.
With a little support, you could be in a position where the people you work with want to see you flourish, use both sides of your brain, and pursue your creative flow (pun intended).