What Is Flow?
“Flow” is the highly focused and immersive mental state that happens when you’re fully absorbed and engaged in a task or activity. It’s when you become so focused on what you’re doing that everything else seems to fall away.
Elements of flow
During flow you can experience:
- Total concentration. Deep focus on the task that helps you stay fully engaged and block out all distractions.
- Merging of action and awareness. The task feels automatic, like a habit.
- Loss of self-consciousness. You lose focus on yourself, your worries, and how you look to others.
- Sense of control. Strong confidence in your ability to perform your task effectively.
- Time shift. You might feel like time is speeding up, slowing down, or irrelevant.
- Self-motivating experience. Your task is enjoyable and satisfying, and you’ve no expectation of any reward or benefit.
3 things you need for flow
- Clear goals. Break down your task into smaller, more precise, and manageable goals.
- Specific feedback. Check in with yourself and others to track your progress along the way.
- Balance skills with challenge. Try for a balance between the demands of the activity and your skill level.
Strategies for attaining flow
- Remove distractions. Avoid multitasking, declutter your space, use technology less often, and cut out anything that takes your focus away from what you’re doing.
- Take risks. Step out of your comfort zone to be more present and approach situations from a different perspective.
- Manage your time Schedule blocks of uninterrupted time so you can fully immerse yourself in your task.
- Tune in to your environment. Feeling connected to your environment can reduce stress and anxiety, create a sense of purpose and fulfillment, and make the activity more meaningful.
