What is Flow and How to Achieve Flow State

Let’s imagine this for a minute. You are ready in your starting pose, all set for your dance competition. The music starts, and you feel as-one with the music, focusing on each movement of your body, feeling your muscles stretch and strain (but barely noticing the pain). You are so absorbed in the moment that you don’t hear the baby crying in the audience, nor the exchanging notes on your performance. The few minutes of your routine fly by in what feels like mere seconds. This, according to positive psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, is the experience of “flow”, a state of complete immersion in an activity. In this article, we’ll delve deeper into what it entails, and how to achieve flow state.

What is Flow and Why it’s Important

“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.” Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi .

Through years of research, Csikszentmihalyi, a renowned flow researcher, found that we enjoy genuine and lasting satisfaction when we are in a state of flow. A sense of time distortion, intense focus, and complete immersion in the task at hand characterize this optimal experience. The key experience and components of flow are summarized in this graphic:

In short, you are completely and utterly in the zone where your skill level perfectly balances the challenge at hand, leading to a sense of control and deep focus. The experience of flow can differ from person to person—you may experience it through a sport like skiing, tennis, or dancing, or you may find flow through creative pursuits like painting, writing, or designing.

The crux is that because you are using your skills fully, applying complete focus, and stretching your limits to overcome a challenge, it’s a natural magnet for personal growth and fulfillment. Flow states are often autotelic experiences, meaning they are rewarding in themselves, promoting not just productivity but also emotional regulation and a sense of clarity and engagement.

Check out Csikszentmihalyi’s talk @TED on flow and happiness:

How to Achieve Flow State in Your Daily Life

Many of us may have experienced flow during seemingly random occasions. In his book Finding Flow, Csíkszentmihályi explains how we can systematically get in the zone, and convert seemingly-routine activities into opportunities for flow. Here are 3 key areas that will help you figure out how to achieve flow state.

1. Finding Flow in What you Do (for both work and leisure)

It is not true that we get into flow only when we are at work. “Active leisure” activities (e.g. sports, arts and crafts) can be equally great opportunities to get in flow. The key is to treat the activities as an opportunity for mastery, rather than mere relaxation.

For example, you may be a cleaner by profession – instead of treating it as a mundane job, you can make each day at work an inspiring one by setting meaningful challenges for yourself (e.g. completing your job better/ faster/ with more resources). Or, you may enjoy baking as a hobby, and use each baking session as a way to express your creativity, hone your senses, or even inspire others.

In short, use these simple tips to guide what you do:

2. Finding Flow through Relationships (when you spend time with yourself and others)

It may be comfortable to spend time with friends and family members who love us as we are, make us feel “safe” and assure us there’s no need to change. However, when we are with people who share our goals and invest time and effort to achieve these goals, it creates opportunity for flow and stimulation for growth.

The ability to feel good about being alone is an important ingredient to developing self-awareness, focus, and to enjoying a fulfilling life. Here are some quick tips to optimizing the time that we spend alone:

3. Building your foundations through Personal Awareness

In order to make the most of what we do and our relationships, personal awareness can be really important. People who are constantly fretting, complaining, rushing, pushing for external rewards will probably find it much harder to get “in the zone”. Or, they may experience flow in only random and rare moments when they quieten their minds.

Developing personal awareness lays a foundation for us to enter the state of flow more easily, frequently and deliberately. Here are some tips for that: