Picture this: You’re engaged in an activity, whether that’s writing computer code or painting a landscape, and you get so absorbed you completely lose track of time. Does this sound familiar? If you’re nodding yes, then you’ve likely experienced what psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi calls a flow state.
Flow, says Csíkszentmihályi, is the optimal creative state. We experience flow when a task stretches our abilities but not so much that our skills can’t meet the challenge of said task. This delicate balance between ability and challenge produces a state of total absorption. In this state, we lose sense of time and stop paying attention to our inner critic. All of a sudden, our task feels effortless. New, intuitive connections and solutions present themselves to us, as if by magic.
It’s not surprising, then, that Csíkszentmihályi believed many individuals produced their best work when they were within a flow state.
Another psychologist Abraham Maslow sees even more potential in flow. Flow, he believes, doesn’t just produce exceptional creative work. Flow can generate peak human experiences, which are exhilarating and elevating, regardless of whether you’re rock-climbing or baking. These peak experiences can be accessed by anyone.
Right, so it’s great to flow. But how exactly does it work? Well, every flow cycle starts with struggle, when you feel challenged and perhaps even stressed. Although your instinct at this stage might be to give up, it’s important that you push on. That’s because struggle leads to release, where you let go and trust in yourself. It’s that specific combination of struggle followed by release that creates flow.
By cultivating conditions that are favorable to achieving the first two stages of the flow cycle, you can actually manifest flow for yourself. Here’s how to do it:
Begin by finding your struggle. This requires persistence. Don’t give up on challenging tasks. Instead, reframe them as opportunities to create struggle. When you see challenging tasks as an entry point for your flow state, you’ll embrace them with enthusiasm.
Then, work towards release. Where struggle requires effort, release requires patience and stillness. If you’re having trouble surrendering to your task, try deep breathing or mindful thinking. Both strategies will calm you, creating an optimal mental environment for release.
Finally, remember that flow should be an autotelic, or self-contained experience. The point of finding flow is simply to find flow, not to produce a specific result. Letting go of preconceived notions of what you should achieve will make it easier to release from your struggle and get in the zone.
