11 April 2025
There are times when people get so busy doing something like their life depends on it. Some times it does, but most of the time it's just a hobby.
It's those moments when they don't think about anything, other than what they're doing, of course. They can't hear their mother calling, don't smell the lunch is burning, or can't feel they're thirsty.
It's called being in the flow.
Unlike my examples, it can be good. When something is done in flow it turns out good, made with high quality, passion and usually love.
Experiences of that activity remembered better and stick with you for a long time.
(Honestly, I don't know myself, let me search)
According to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in Beyond Boredom and Anxiety, Chapter 4
A person in flow has no dualistic perspective: he is aware of his actions but not of the awareness itself.
If I want to expand on this, a person in flow is so engaged with the activity that forgets about everything else, including herself. It feels spooky, but as a result whatever you work on turns out in the best shape possible. When in flow our brain allocates all available resources to the work in hand and even more interestingly, stops receiving/processing unrelated information to keep the flow.
It gets less spooky if we realize at those times our information hungry brains feeds on something much more important that getting insights from outside world gets the second priority.
The point is getting into the flow state isn't always easy and it has some requirements to get it, and keep it.
First of anything keep in mind when in the flow, you might not necessarily feel good. Like when Michael Phelps was swimming for Olympics gold medal, he wasn't thinking about anything other than swimming and swimming. Not the crowd, not his fiance, not his dog, not his exhaustion, not the burning feeling in his lungs. Simply put, his brain was ignoring pain to make him a winner.
So the first ingredient to get into flow is priority. The activity must be more important than the buzz around.
Then, it must be done voluntary and lead to success. So a reward must be waiting for your brain.
And to stay in flow you need direct feedback for your effort plus the feeling of being in control.
Of course this experience isn't equal for every activity and every individual. But what is clear is the stronger the pivots are you will feel a deeper flow and for a longer time.
If something is important for you, try doing it in flow. Insist on stimuli and make it happen, if your mind don't think of it as the highest priority or something else, then change your thoughts, you're not a rock anyways.
Further reading: How to Enter Flow State: 6 Activities & Trainings
(thanks Ghazal for sharing)
