Finding Flow - Dr Sangeetha Madhu and Eliza Abraham

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi who is one of the co-founders of the field of positive psychology is the psychologist who identified and researched on the concept of “Flow”.

Csikszentmihalyi, 1990 defined flow as “The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times . . . The best moments usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile” (as cited in Oppland, 2020).

Flow experiences varies among people, some experience it while engaging in sports and other in activities such as writing, drawing etc. According to Csikszentmihalyi, people experience flow when they have a task to complete and their goals need specific responses. He states that if the task does not have many challenges, then flow can only be attained when the challenges increase or if the individual learns a new skill to cope with the challenges. Having flow improves performance and skill development (Cherry, 2020).

Csikszentmihalyi gave the following 8 characteristics of flow:

1. Complete concentration on the task.
2. Clarity of goals and reward in mind and immediate feedback.
3. Transformation of time (speeding up/slowing down).
4. The experience is intrinsically rewarding.
5. Effortlessness and ease.
6. There is a balance between challenge and skills.
7. Actions and awareness are merged, losing self-conscious rumination.
8. There is a feeling of control over the task (Oppland, 2020).

Ways to achieve Flow

1.      The task or activity should be something, that you are interested, passionate and enjoy doing.

2.      It should have at least one component that is difficult or challenging.

3.      It should force you to stretch your current level of skills.

4.      You should have a clear idea about your goal and plan of action (Cherry, 2020).

 

References

Cherry, K. (2020, June 3). 'Flow' Can Help You Achieve Goals. Understanding the Psychology of Flow. Verywellmind.https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-flow-2794768#:~:text=Experiencing%20the%20State%20of%20Flow,The%20ego%20falls%20away.

Oppland, M. (2020, October 12). 8 Ways To Create Flow According to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Positive Psychology. https://positivepsychology.com/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi-father-of-flow/