Have you ever felt totally engaged and involved in an activity that you have lost track of time? When any distractions such as phone ringing, hunger or interruptions you were not aware of because you were so totally absorbed and energised with what you were doing?
Most of us have had this experience of “being in the flow” at one time or another. When it happens, we lose our sense of self, and move forward on instinct, completely devoted to the task before us.
The idea of Flow was first introduced by a psychologist named Mihaly Csíkszentmihályi in his book “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience.” He observed that emotional states that we’re likely to experience when trying to complete a task, depending on the perceived difficulty of the challenge, and our perceptions of our skill levels. For example, if the task isn’t challenging and doesn’t require a lot of skill, we’re likely to feel apathy towards it. But facing a challenging task without the required skills could easily result in worry and anxiety.
To find a balance, and to perform at our best, we need a challenge that is significant and interesting, and we need well-developed skills, so that we’re confident that we can meet the challenge. This moves us to a position where we can experience “flow” or being totally involved and engaged in the activity.
Csíkszentmihályi went on to identify 10 experiences that go with the state of being in flow:
1. Having a clear understanding of what you want to achieve.
2. Being able to concentrate for a sustained period of time.
3. Losing the feeling of consciousness of one’s self.
4. Finding that time passes quickly.
5. Getting direct and immediate feedback.
6. Experiencing a balance between your ability levels, and the challenge.
7. Having a sense of personal control over the situation.
8. Feeling that the activity is intrinsically rewarding.
9. Lacking awareness of bodily needs.
10. Being completely absorbed in the activity itself.
Note that all of these factors and experiences don’t necessarily have to be in place for flow to happen, but you’re likely to experience many of them when flow occurs. To enter the state of flow three components that must be present:
1. Goals – Goals add motivation and structure to what you’re doing. Whether you’re writing a report or creating a presentation, you must be working towards a goal to experience flow. Are you setting goals on a monthly/weeky/daily basis?
2. Balance – There must be a good balance between your perceived skill and the perceived challenge of the task. If one of these weighs more heavily than the other, flow will not occur. What are you doing to increasingly challenge yourself? How are you increasing your skill levels? Can you redefine your role so it becomes more challenging?
3. Feedback – You must have clear, immediate feedback, so that you can make changes and improve your performance. This can be feedback from other people, or self awareness that you’re making progress with the task. Who’s giving your feedback? Who can you give feedback to?
