The Flow State

Have you ever found yourself feeling lost in an activity? Where time itself seems to have passed by in an instant without you being aware of it? Where you feel like you are 'in the zone'?

Modern sociologist Mihaly Csiksentmihalyi discovered after extensive discussions with people from all walks of life, that there is a state of flow, or a 'prime state', that unites people in their feeling of being lost in an activity.

In his 2004 TED talk, Csikszentmihalyi described the flow state as, “this focus that, once it becomes intense, leads to a sense of ecstasy, a sense of clarity: you know exactly what you want to do from one moment to the other; you get immediate feedback. You know that what you need to do is possible to do, even though difficult, and sense of time disappears, you forget yourself, you feel part of something larger. And once the conditions are present, what you are doing becomes worth doing for its own sake.”

Csiksentmihalyi depicted this in graph form, with 'skills' along the x-axis and 'challenges' along the y-axis. When an activity steers an x=y diagonal, this is when we find ourselves in the flow state, and in our reportedly happiest frame of mind.

Not enough challenge, and inevitably we feel bored. Too much challenge and not enough skill, and we feel anxiety. 

The flow state has been associated with feelings of well-being, happiness and satisfaction. There are a number of steps you can take to get into the flow state. A quick internet search and you will find all the advice you need. But consider how this x=y graph might help you find happiness at work.

In terms of work, the flow state is linked to productivity, motivation, and even loyalty to your employer. This makes perfect sense, because surely if we are not feeling anxious nor bored with our work, if we feel happy and satisfied with what we're doing, we are more likely to be an engaged employee. 

So ask yourself, is my work treading the x=y diagonal between challenges and skills? If not, if you often feel bored and disengaged, perhaps it's time to ask your boss for a new challenge, or propose a project you could work on. If instead you often find yourself feeling anxious, identify what skills you are lacking or that need developing that would help reduce this anxiety. And hopefully, we can find ourselves in the zone more often than not.