Go with the flow!
Have you ever had a moment in your life where you were so indulged in a task that you lost track of time? Say you were reading a book for what you thought was only an hour, to turn out to actually be two. This happens when you are completely focused on the said activity, so much so that you become unaware of the time passing. Most people can recall being in such a state and can associate it with a variety of different activities such as dancing, working out, sports, painting, reading, socialising or browsing the internet. In positive psychology, we call this experience a flow state.
There are a series of important characteristics to a flow state. These characteristics include: complete concentration on the said activity; actions and awareness merging together, making the activity appear almost automatic and effortless; sense of control over the task with no worries of failure; transformation of time where usually more time passes than you expected, however the reverse can also be true; activities are internally rewarding, meaning you do it because you want to; and losing awareness of oneself or self-consciousness during the activity. To achieve a sense of flow, most activities require a balance of skill and challenge, and it has been suggested that flow requires effort and work in order to be a state of ultimate enjoyment.
Achieving a state of flow is as easy as engaging in something you love. Although many of the characteristics above may be present, not all of them are required to experience flow. Experts believe that we are likely to achieve flow when we are presented with a task that has clear goals set before it as well as a set of specific responses. Some of the most popular flow activities include swimming, yoga, running and rock climbing. Although these are all leisure activities, the flow state can also be achieved at work. Despite the fact that they are all different, each of these activities all have elements of control and attention. When trying to achieve a state of flow, three key factors can help:
Have a specific goal and responses
Choose an activity you are passionate about
Make sure there is a balance of skill and challenge
The flow state has been found to have many benefits to our lives. One of these benefits is that flow can help improve performance in a variety of areas such as sports, arts and learning – pretty much whatever relates to your flow tasks! Alongside enhancing performance, flow also helps further learning and development. This is because individuals continuously seek out new challenges in order to continuously achieve flow, improving their skills in that area. Research has also found that people who engage in flow are more likely to experience positive emotions as a result. In particular, feeling happy, active, strong, concentrated and satisfied. Interestingly, as the flow state is so heavily engaged in the task, these feelings are not experienced during the activity but more so after the activity has been completed.
Overall, experiencing flow has been described as an enjoyable due to the sense of control over the task and the internally rewarding nature of these tasks. Considering that flow experiences are not only enjoyable but beneficial to our wellbeing, we could all benefit with a flow experience from time-to-time.