Do you recall ever feeling completely immersed in something you were doing? Ever noted how time seems to either stand still or fly by when you’re enjoying yourself? In psychology, there is actually a term for this: it’s called flow and refers to a highly-focused mental state of optimal experience. According to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the noted psychologist who defined the concept, the state of flow has the following characteristics:
- Clarity of goals and immediate feedback. When one is in flow, there is no confusion regarding what to do. Such as in making art or playing a sport, the rules of the game are clear and success or failure is immediately perceived.
- A high level of concentration on a limited field. Flow is a state where one’s concentration is at peak level and one becomes completely immersed in the activity at hand.
- Balance between skills and challenge. The nature of a flow-inducing task must be intermediate to the doer – neither so difficult as to cause frustration, nor so easy as to cause boredom.
- The feeling of control. One of the main characteristics of flow is a feeling of heightened control, competence and autonomy over one’s actions and a state of security.
- Effortlessness. When one is in a state of flow, everything works easily and effortlessly and in sync. There is no strain or deep thinking involved – things flow organically like it’s ingrained in muscle memory.
- An altered perception of time. In a deep flow-state, one’s normal perception of time gets altered. Either time seems to be going by very quickly or barely moving at all.
- The melting together of action and consciousness. This refers to feeling one with the activity such as a musician being in perfect harmony with their instrument. In the state of flow, there is unity between who you are and what you are doing.
- The autotelic quality of flow-experiences. Not only is flow rewarding in that it leads to better outcomes, it is inherently fulfilling in itself as an activity. In other words, the means is just as satisfying as its ends.
You may wonder, why is flow so satisfying? What makes flow, according to its pioneer, the “secret to happiness”?
- Flow is associated with activity in brain structures implicated in rewards and goal pursuit. Studies also show that flow is associated with reduced activity in brain structures related to self-focus.
- Flow brings joy into the present moment. As the flow state is deeply immersive in nature, there is no rumination about the past or anxiety about the future in such a state. One is effortlessly and mindfully in the present.
- The experience of flow can help people pursue their long-term goals. Research shows that taking breaks to do enjoyable things actually helps improve one’s self-control and enhance focused goal pursuit.
- Flow helps people stay resilient in the face of adversity. It helps to shift one’s thoughts away from negative ruminative thinking to something positive. Research shows that shown that engaging in flow-inducing activities can act as a protective factor against depression and burnout.
The recipe for flow can be described in different ways: action with consciousness, freedom with connectedness, engaged mindfulness, but they all equal to a state of being that feels incredibly good.