Have you ever been so deeply absorbed in a task that time seems to fly by, and you feel completely in the moment? That state of being is known as flow, and it's a powerful tool for unlocking your creative potential and increasing your productivity.
The concept was first described in detail by the Hungarian-American psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, whose 1990 book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience set the modern terms for it. He characterized flow as complete immersion in an activity — a state in which you lose self-consciousness, time distorts, and you perform at the upper edge of your ability. Researchers since have linked flow to higher reported satisfaction, learning rate, and creative output.
How to get into flow
Five conditions reliably help.
- Find your flow trigger. Everyone has different activities that produce flow. For some people it's writing, for others it's playing music, and for others it's working with their hands. Identifying yours is the first step.
- Eliminate distractions. Flow depends on complete immersion in the task at hand. Silence your phone, close the tabs, and do whatever it takes to minimize interruptions.
- Set clear goals. Specific, measurable, achievable goals give your attention a target and a way to know it's making progress.
- Focus on the process, not the outcome. Worrying about the end result pulls you out. Stay in the moment-to-moment experience of the work.
- Stay present. Don't dwell on what just went wrong, and don't rehearse what's next. Both yank you out of flow.
With a little practice, the entry becomes faster and the state itself longer-lived. The result is the rare experience of doing your best work and enjoying the doing of it.