Psychology Archipelago

What Is Flow And How Do We Achieve It?

A lot of self-help gurus talk about the difficulty of starting. Starting the journey often seems to be the hardest part. This can be, in part, attributed to a concept in positive psychology known as flow, coined by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in 1975.  

We often hear “go with the flow” to mean to relax and not think too much. In psychology, flow holds a related meaning. Flow is the state where we are completely and utterly immersed in whatever we are doing, whether that be drawing, solving puzzles, or playing sports. During this time nothing else seems to matter, and we don’t even recognize that we’re in the flow because we’re too immersed in what we’re doing. These periods of time are characterized by a distorted sense of time. When we are “in the flow,” hours can seems like minutes. 

There are several benefits of being in the flow state.

Flow is intrinsically rewarding and is accompanied with a satisfaction, positive mood, meaningfulness. The more engaged we are in the work that we are doing, the more rewarding it seems. If we are in flow, we seem to have more cognitive control, meaning that we can control our actions and our thoughts better. 

This likely contributes to how flow also increases productivity. Research has shown that work in a flow state is as much as 5 times more productive. Athletes often call the flow state as being “in the zone” which is often when they give their best performances.

In addition, according to a study, flow increases positive emotions, mitigates negative emotion, and also seems to decrease worry during uncertain periods. When you are waiting for a test result or for a job interview, it’s easy to get anxious, but it seems getting into a flow state can help. 

So how can we get into a flow state?

We must be engaged with something that is the perfect amount of challenging for our skill level. If we are confronted with a challenge that is too difficult for our skill level, we might feel anxiety or worry. But if we can balance these, we get into the flow state. Csikszentmihalyi developed the flow state model to illustrate this balance. 

Although this model seems to indicate that we must have high skill to achieve a flow state, many people achieve flow state in mundane every day activities or activities in which they are relatively lacking in skill. For example, when learning a new sport, despite having a relatively low skill level, people can still attain a flow state. What this means is just that you have sufficient skill. 

For example, if you are just learning golf but you’re afraid of hitting the ball into a house or constantly shanking your balls, you might not get into a flow state. But even if you’re not a pro, you can still get into a flow state by adjusting your expectations (and thus the difficulty), for example trying to hit under 90 instead of trying to get under par. 

Having clear goals seems to be crucial in attaining a flow state. A brand new paper published in April 2022 in Nature showed that association between our goals and what we are doing to attain them is what creates flow. When we are oriented towards something, it is easy to become absorbed in what we are doing. If we are doing something that requires skill, even if it doesn’t serve some grand goal like the betterment of humanity, we can obtain a flow state. Making a goal as simple as getting better as chess or getting in shape can be just as conducive to a flow state as searching for a cure for cancer. What we have to do is to make sure what we are doing is helping us get to our goals. Sitting on a cycling machine while eating a bag of potato chips probably won’t be as rewarding as running up a mountain with a 50 pound bag (if we are capable of doing so). 

What this means is that it’s good to have a bit of discomfort sometimes. Discomfort can happen when trying to get to a skill level necessary to reach a flow state, or challenging yourself to reach your goals. Running your first 10 miles in training for a marathon might be uncomfortable, but it can still lead to flow and fulfillment. Flow doesn’t necessarily mean comfortable. 

We have to initiate action before experiencing flow. Flow means pushing your skills in the perfect amount, often in ways that we know will be uncomfortable, which makes starting the action hard sometimes. But this zone of pushing your skills is where you grow. Similar to the "Zone of Proximal Development," where learning is most efficiently done in the area between what you can do unassisted and what you cannot do, we must push ourselves past our limits in order to grow. 

But maybe you don’t like struggle and want to pursue a hedonistic lifestyle? Unfortunately, the research doesn’t look too good on that one. Research has shown that materialistic values and lifestyles lead to less fulfillment and makes you less likely to experience flow. This is because chasing comfort and pleasure makes you less likely to challenge yourself in a way that gives you flow. By avoiding challenges, you will not only be unprepared for the inevitable challenge of life, but you will not grow to your full potential.

In my experience, chasing comfort instead makes your mind uncomfortable. If I am not moving forward towards my goals, I cannot feel proud of who I am. We grow the most when we are a bit uncomfortable, and we can sleep well knowing that we took steps toward our goals.