Meditation is a good way of practising how to eliminate the internal distractions from your own mind. You won’t have the urge to jump up to grab a coffee, eat, think about your phone, or anything else. According to Csikszentmihalyi, our brain is capable of processing about 110 bits of information per second, and when you are in a state of flow all 110 are engaged in the task, so you don’t have any attention left over. In fact, some people refer to flow state as ‘hyper focus’. Once you’re focused with complete attention on something for 10-15 minutes, you are more able to get into flow state. However, we can start to enjoy something more when we get into it, and then enter flow state it can be a chicken and egg situation and is therefore worth pursuing at work. It usually comes with tasks that gives us a sense of purpose and aligns with our values and passions. Research shows that trying to juggle tasks is detrimental to accomplishing them.įlow state is easier to achieve when we’re doing something we enjoy. Create a plan, and only tackle one thing at a time. To get into your flow state, you need to eliminate any distractions, external and internal. How can you get into a flow state of mind?
In his 2004 TED Talk, Csikszentmihalyi (pictured above) says that many of us believe what makes us happy is rest and relaxation, but it’s actually a more active state, closer to the sense of ecstasy that you get from flow state. Achieving this blissful feeling was a significant reason for his love of his work, and helped to give meaning to his life. One successful composer described how he felt when composing was going well, saying, ‘You are in an ecstatic state to such a point that you feel as though you almost don’t exist.’ This is his experience of flow. However, widespread interest in its positive effects is relatively new.Ĭsikszentmihalyi and his team interviewed thousands of positive people, from Himalayan climbers to ballet dancers, surgeons and chess champions to examine flow state and its effects. Flow state isn’t new – many might simply refer to it as ‘being in the zone’, but the study of it began in the 1970s. Their job is studying positive mental states – happiness, joy, resilience – and examining how to increase them in our everyday lives. The phrase flow state was popularised by two positive psychologists Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Jeanne Nakamura. Instead of just waiting for it to arrive, there are ways we can actively trigger a flow state of mind and encourage that experience. It has a positive impact on everything from your work performance to your mental health.
Flow state of mind is a good place to be.
0 kommentar(er)
