The State of Flow

Flow isn’t just for athletes and artists anymore. The state of flow can be achieved by anyone pursuing any type of activity. When you are so engaged in what you are doing that you forget to worry about anything else, you have achieved flow. When you are so absorbed in your work that you don’t notice potential distractions, you are in a state of flow. When you are in a state of flow, you are working at a peak state of productivity. The best part of flow is that you are not only really productive, but you are also happy. I don’t mean smiling and laughing happy like you might be when you are out with friends celebrating your birthday. I mean fulfilled, stimulated, secure, focused, confident, and interested.

How do you get to this state of flow? You might assume that choosing a relaxing, easy task is the best way to get into a state of flow. Research done by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi shows that your instinct is generally incorrect. Choosing the easiest option results in apathy and boredom, not flow. Netflix feels like a good idea, but it doesn’t get us involved and stimulated – it numbs and sedates us. Sometimes a little boredom is just what you need after a hard day, but if you are looking for a state of flow, you are going to need to push yourself a little harder.

Your next instinct might be to engage in a hobby which you are good at – maybe you like to play soccer or you like to hike in the woods. While these activities provide more of a challenge than watching Netflix, the level of challenge involved depends heavily on your skill set. If you have been interested in your hobby for any length of time, you have probably become fairly good at it and are able to accomplish the basics of the tasks involved without straining yourself.

A nice, easy hour of club soccer or a short hike through your local park sounds like a great way to achieve flow, but, again, Csikszentmihalyi’s work shows that your instinct is incorrect. When you engage in an activity in which you already have a lot of skills, you generally achieve a state of relaxation, but not a state of flow.

To get to flow, you need to add a bit of a challenge. When you engage in a challenging activity, you have to concentrate and put forth physical, emotional or mental effort to accomplish your task. By giving yourself something difficult to strive for, you can boost your own engagement.

Hitting the sweet spot between the level of challenge and your ability to rise to that challenge is key. Attempting to accomplish things which are wildly outside of your abilities will not help you to achieve flow. You will not achieve flow if you decide to take an upper-level chemistry class as a freshman philosophy major. When the challenge too far exceeds your skills, you create anxiety and worry rather than flow.

The state of flow exists when you balance the skills you have with just enough of a challenge that you have to concentrate, focus, and apply all of your current skills.

It feels counterintuitive to seek out experiences which are difficult and to work just at the edge of what you are capable of doing. It feels like you would be happier if you stayed well within your comfort zone.

Csikszentmihalyi captured the counterintuitive nature of flow well when he said,

Voluntary, difficult and worthwhile are powerful words in that statement. We don’t often achieve a state of flow when we feel forced into a challenging situation. This is often the case with students in a challenging academic situation. The professor has assigned a difficult problem set and the completion of that problem set is pushing you to the limits of your abilities, but you aren’t achieving a state of flow because you are doing the problem set under duress. Changing your mindset by reminding yourself that you made the choice to pursue a college degree and to take this particular course can help make these types of activities feel more voluntary and can get you closer to a state of flow while you are completing them.

Likewise, reframing your difficult problem set as a worthwhile endeavor which will teach you things you need to know to graduate and be successful can also help you to increase your state of flow. Rather than seeing the assignment as a chore or a necessary evil, try to find the inherent value in the exercise.

How often do you engage in activities which are just challenging enough to push you to the edge of your skill level? How do you feel when you are working in the state of flow? Are there ways you can approach the other tasks you have to do in a way which would increase your level of flow?

If you are interested in learning more about flow, check out my Priorities and Productivity workshop.