Want to get in the zone? Find your flow.
“Mihaly Robert Csikszentmihalyi, the psychologist who named the concept of flow, describes a flow state as ‘the merging of action and awareness,’” says Mary Morrissey, founder of the Brave Thinking Institute and author of Brave Thinking.
But what does that look like, exactly? And how can we find our flow? We get into it below.
“Flow is being in the zone,” says Stella Grizont, positive psychology expert and author of The Work Happiness Method. “It’s when you’re so immersed in an activity, you lose sense of time, space, and even yourself.”
This may sound similar to how it feels when scrolling through your FYP, but it’s not the same. There’s a key difference between mindless scrolling and a flow state: flow state requires challenge. “You have to be challenged just a little (not too much) beyond your capabilities and get immediate feedback,” Stella says.
“Flow state generally occurs in challenging activities, where we also have deep skills. It’s a sweet spot where we are not so challenged that the task is insurmountable, nor is it so easy that it cannot hold our attention,” says Amina AlTai, Global Keynote Speaker and Executive Coach.
“Comments such as ‘I’m in the zone today’ or ‘I just did a week of work in a few hours’ are often heard during flow states,” Mary adds.
“It can happen to anyone doing anything, from snowboarding to washing dishes,” Stella says. “You must have complete concentration, allowing your actions and awareness to merge, so you lose self-consciousness and are doing the thing because it’s rewarding for its own sake.
Flow is the ultimate state of engagement, deep presence, and optimal performance. It feels good … even ecstatic.”
How do I find a flow state?
Here are a few expert tips for finding your flow:
1. Remove distractions. “Flow requires concentration. This is probably the biggest challenge for most of us because our phones are so addictive. I’d suggest turning off all notifications, removing distractions, and communicating to others that you need some focus time,” Stella says.
2. Set a clear goal. “For example, instead of saying to yourself, ‘research ideas for my project,’ tell yourself, ‘Make a list of objectives I want to learn,’” Stella says. “It doesn’t have to be the biggest goal in the world—it can be getting to the next level in your video game,” Amina adds. “Having a goal helps to further hone the focus.”
3. Have a vision. “Another way to attract flow states is with your vision, rather than trying to force yourself into them with behavior change,” Mary says. “When you have a vision for your work, you naturally enter flow states more frequently because your thinking is aligned with what you are seeking.”
4. Balance the challenges of the task with your skill set. “Choose something that is challenging enough to hold your attention, but not so challenging you can’t achieve the desired outcome,” Amina says. “This is usually right on your growth edge. You have skill in this area and have the ability to stretch yourself to the next level.”
5. Practice. “Expertise enables flow,” Amina says. “A study of experienced and newer musicians found that the more experienced players felt flow more often and more intensely. It’s not that we can’t achieve it with newer activities, but practice over time can support flow.”
6. Choose something that motivates you. “In a study of elite athletes, intrinsic motivation optimized their flow,” Amina says. “The activity itself (versus the outcome) must be the thing that draws us. If we are running because we are motivated to, instead of running to win the race alone, we will experience greater flow.”
7. It’s okay that you’re not always in flow. “Flow is fabulous, but you can’t live in flow. So don’t beat yourself up for not being in an ecstatic state of optimal performance all the time! Rest is important. Most of us don’t get into flow when we’re relaxing—and that’s perfect because you need to restore,” Stella says.
“Your inner critic turns off,” says Stella. “Your life satisfaction and fulfillment go up. Your performance and efficiency gets better.”
Other benefits include:
- Greater resilience: “Research indicated that a flow state can help build resilience in adults. It’s thought to downregulate stress and upregulate positive feelings,” Amina says.
- More happiness: “A study on older adults found that a higher quality of flow was associated with more positive sentiment such as feeling enthusiastic and happy,” Amina says.
- Greater well-being: “A study from China examined the role of flow against mindfulness in supporting COVID quarantine periods,” Amina says. “The data suggests that experiencing flow could mitigate the negative aspects of quarantine.”
- More creativity: Stella says that according to studies, creativity and innovation can “surge by 400-700 percent.”
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