What is Flow?
Posted on April 23, 2013 by Rosanne Kerr, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
Discover Flow for more happiness and engagement in your life. Learn about the term "Flow", coined by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.
What is Flow?
Have you ever started a task at home or work, and later on saw the clock, and were shocked by how much time has passed? Do you ever wake up in the morning anticipating an activity you love to do? Do you begin the activity in your pyjamas, taking time only to grab a cup of coffee because you just can’t wait to get started?
If this happens to you, you are likely “in flow”. I love this term, and I love the meaning behind it. I believe if we cultivate ways to bring more flow into our lives, it will bring us an abundance of fun, happiness, and well-being.
The researcher to coin the concept of flow is Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. He says the metaphor of flow is one that many people have used to describe the sense of effortless action they feel in moments that stand out as the best in their lives (1997). When you are in flow, you are usually using strengths like creativity, perseverance, love of learning, or kindness. Maybe you were helping a friend move, testing out a new recipe, playing a favourite card game, learning something new, solving a problem at work, using your new camera, playing a sport, fixing or detailing your car, or working with others on a team.
Flow is most likely to occur when there is a balance between skill and challenge. For example, we don’t feel in flow if the activity is too difficult for us or if it doesn’t challenge us. Peterson suggests the term “junk flow” to describe activities such as playing video games, watching reality TV shows and participating in gossip. These activities have some elements of flow (engagement and absorption) but do not provide us with challenge, and as a result, don’t leave us feeling satisfied or energized (2006). The challenge for us is to not surrender to the appeal and ease of junk flow, and intentionally try to integrate more activities that promote real flow in to our lives.
For example, do we ever hear anyone say, “Damn, I’m getting good at watching TV? I can’t wait until tomorrow to perfect my technique.” (Peterson, 2006) Yet, I feel when we think back to times in our lives when we were most engaged, having those stand-out moments in our lives; those are the times we want to relive and add to our lives more often.
I leave you with these thoughts. How can you build more flow into your life? Do you have something that you already know engages you? Is there a way you can begin to build a little more time for flow into personal and work routines? I believe by spending time in flow, we increase our happiness, health, and well-being.
If you are interested in learning more about flow, watch the award-winning movie Happy. It is an entertaining way to learn more about flow, and how to increase real flow in your life. See www.happymovie.com for more information.
References:
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996) Finding Flow. New York, US: Basic Books.
Peterson, C. (2006). A primer in positive psychology. New York, US: Oxford University Press.
