What is flow & why you want it. 6 simple steps to finding flow.
You might have heard of flow; you might know of it as being in the zone. But what is it and why do you want it?
What is flow?
Flow is beautifully described by Martin Seligman as “being one with the music, time stopping, and the loss of self-consciousness during an absorbing activity”.
It's those moments where you are lost in concentration, you are at one with your activity, you’re in control, time doesn’t exist. When you come out of this moment, when you have completed the task or activity you were engaged in, you feel accomplished, joyful, satisfied.
You don’t feel much, if anything, when you’re in this moment you’re so lost in this activity, it's almost the opposite of mindfulness, were we really want to be present.
We usually find it in activities with high skill and high challenge. It's an activity you enjoy and find rewarding, and usually not in the mundane day to day activities we have to do. Where we find flow will be different for all of us (though there are patterns) and there are cultural differences – there are no right or wrongs when it comes to flow.
Activities where we might find flow:
Dancing
Reading
Creative activities
Work
Music
Sport
Art
Socialising
Gardening
Walking
Why do you want it?
Firstly, it feels great. Usually, we find flow in activities which are rewarding, and are time-limited. Often, there is a clear objective, aim or goal, and so we know when we’ve been successful; perhaps we’ve started playing a sport, learning a new skill or going for a walk. We know what it will mean to complete that walk (there’s an end point) or learn this skill (there is a goal). If we’ve got into a flow state, and have been absorbed in it, as this comes to an end, we’re going to have a sense of achievement, and feel any one of a number of ‘positive’ emotions - pleasure, joy, happiness, pride, peace.
But flow does more than this; it enables you to grow.
We move into flow when our skills are aligned with the challenge of the activity. If the challenge too low, but we are skilled then we may experience boredom. If the challenge is too high for our skill level, then we may experience anxiety. These emotions are so useful to us, they give us insight into what we need to move back into a flow state. Do we need to increase or decrease the challenge? Or do we need to increase our skill by practicing or learning something new?
This navigation of challenge and skills facilitates our growth, it teaches us determination.
6 simple steps to finding flow in your week
As mentioned, you can find flow in that sweet spot between skill and challenge, here are 6 simple steps to take to make room for flow in your life.
Identify activities you enjoy, which use your skills and challenge you.
Grab your notebook or journal. Think back over the last month, list the activities have you really enjoyed and which have either used your skills or challenged you.
Now think about other activities you enjoy, but you perhaps haven’t participated in over the last month, note these down in a second list.
Identify your Signature Strengths
Head over to the VIA website and find out what your Signature Strengths (your top five) are.
Map your signature strengths & activities
Take your signature strengths, and write these down in five bubbles on a sheet of paper. Now take your lists of activities and map these against your strengths.
Identify which strengths you aren’t using.
Are there any signature strengths which you aren’t using in a flow state? Are there ways you could use these?
Where do you need to change the level of challenge or increase your skills?
Looking at all the activities where you might find flow, for each of these reflect on how you feel before and afterwards. Do you need to reduce or increase the challenge? What will help you develop your level of skill?
How can you make regular space for these flow opportunities in your week?
Think about each activity and how frequently you want to make space for it. Where do you have space in your week or month to participate in these activities? Are there any barriers and how can you plan for these?
Do you want to get the blog posts straight into your inbox? Sign up here.