To be in flow
is to be fully present and wildly capable.
In positive psychology, a flow state, also known colloquially as being in the zone, is the mental state in which a person performing some activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. – Mihaly Csiksgentmihalyi
Ooh! That sounds AMAZING. How do I get there?
Flow requires certain conditions to be present to allow it to happen. Flow states cannot be forced. Even saying that you’re trying to access flow will lock you out of it in the “flow paradox.” To get into flow requires behavior modification and counter-intuitive thinking.
When you set the conditions in your organization and in your life, and remove the flow blockers, you and your entire team can get “in the zone.” In that space, whether in a group or in solitary endeavors, the world around you gets quiet. Distractions fall away. And all of a sudden it’s three hours later and you have created the unimaginable… that is flow.
When you are in a state of flow you experience:
What’s Your Impossible?
Conditions for Flow
Do something you are skilled at.
When you are confident in your skill and the task requires you to use that skill to its fullest extent, you are in a place where flow is possible.
Challenge yourself.
Skills balance is crucial to achieving a flow state. That is the use of well-established skills at their outermost limitations.
Eliminate distractions.
Hunger, pain, and cell phones… all of these will jerk you right back out of flow. Give yourself the peace to truly focus if you want to achieve the optimal conditions for flow.
Be aware of your experience, mentally and physically.
Take stock of how you feel in your body and the “noise” in your mind. Be at peace with your physical and mental state. Notice and let go of that which doesn’t serve you.
Create liminality.
Rituals and routines provide structured time that is special and “sacred.” Establishing rituals around certain times of the day or week can facilitate the space needed to allow for flow.
Keep trying.
Flow, like anything else worth doing, is not something that is achieved without focus, effort, and discipline. Once you do achieve flow, you’ll be hooked. Intrinsic rewards come from working in a state of flow as well as the dopamine, norepinephrine high that your brain will get from doing something at peak performance.