The psychology ‘flow’ and how to get more of it
What is a Flow State? 5 tips to get in the zone
Hyperfocus, being in the zone, runner’s high; flow has many different names. Whatever you call it, everyone is hardwired to achieve it, provided certain conditions are met. Flow feels incredible, motivates you, makes you more productive and brings a deep sense of inner clarity. It’s truly one of the best feelings there is.
So what exactly happens to our brains during flow, what are the benefits, and how do we get more of this wonderfully addictive state? Let’s find out.
What is Flow?
‘Flow’ was first coined by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, PhD. – a positive psychologist and Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Claremont Graduate University. It describes a short term state when you are completely absorbed by a challenging but manageable task. He chose the word ‘flow’ because, when interviewing research subjects, “flow” was the word that kept popping up. Every action or decision led seamlessly to the next. In other words, flow actually feels flowy.
According to Csikszentmihalyi’s subjects, flow brings out the following feelings:
Being completely involved in what we are doing – focused, concentrated.
A sense of ecstasy – of being outside everyday reality.
Great inner clarity – knowing what needs to be done, and how well we are doing.
Knowing that the activity is doable – that our skills are adequate to the task.
A sense of serenity – without worries about oneself, and the ego.
Timelessness – thoroughly focused on the present, hours seem to pass by the minute.
Intrinsic motivation – whatever produces flow becomes its own reward.
A powerful cocktail of neurochemicals
You may think we use more of our brains when in flow but we actually use less. The prefrontal cortex shuts down (which is why time passes so strangely) and we are plunged into the deep now. Fears and anxieties (usually linked to past and future) are switched off so we can concentrate. Our sense of self disappears. Our inner critic is silenced. Without our usual doubts, we take more risks and become far more creative. We feel free.
In flow state we get high doses of the following 5 neurochemicals: norepinephrine, dopamine, endorphins, anandamide, and serotonin. Flow is the only time we get all 5 at once. These neurochemicals improve cognitive functions (see below), numb pain, and boost mood. They are powerful performance-enhancing and pleasure chemicals - which make flow such an addictive state.
Incredible cognitive enhancement
A McKinsey study conducted over 10 years, found that top executives reported being 5 times more productive in flow. In theory you could spend Monday in flow, take the rest of the week off and still get more done than your steady-state peers.
During flow:
We take in more information (data acquisition)
We pay more attention (salience)
We find connections faster (pattern recognition)
We find farther-flung connections (lateral thinking)
And when faced with a problem, we innovate and take more risks (creative thinking)
Potent health-boosting benefits
Apart from feeling great in that moment, flow increases productivity long-term, improves emotional regulation, and even boosts your immune system.
And then there’s the positive feedback loop. Experiencing flow creates more flow – making you overall more engaged, more creative and more satisfied. It’s a win, win.
How to optimise for flow:
Find your primary flow activity
Seeing as flow creates more flow, we can get more of it at work by reaching a flow state in our leisure time first. If you’re not sure what your primary flow activity is, think about what skills come naturally to you, what activity holds your concentration so much that you forget everything else? What hobby gives you that all-consuming, natural high? It could be playing an instrument, creating something with your hands, solving a complex mathematical problem or playing a sport. Think climbing, cooking, painting, woodturning, or even dancing. You may have experienced group flow when singing in a choir, playing in a team, or being at a particularly transcendent live concert.
Once you’ve found your primary flow activity, do lots of it! Aim to do it at least once a week. This will create a positive feedback loop, training your brain for more flow in other parts of your life.
2. Tap into your curiosity
Curiosity is a highly powerful internal motivator. When we are curious, small amounts of dopamine and norepinephrine are released in our brain. These two neurochemicals give us a taster of the full flow state. Think about the last time you were truly curious about something, what lengths did you do to get the answers you needed? When choosing how to spend your time on this earth, follow your curiosity to harness that motivational power.
If you were given a whole week of free time with no chores and commitments, what books would you read? What topics would you research? What talks would you listen to? Lean into those interests and see where they take you.
3. Focus on what you can do today
It’s easy enough to think of big goals for the next few years. You might want to buy that house, write that book, start that business.
Once you have set your big goals, break them down into smaller, more manageable steps. And then break those steps into even smaller steps. In her book, Bird by Bird, Anne Lammott calls this “One-Inch Frames,”. Focus on the one thing that you can do right now to the ruthless exclusion of everything else.
Zoom in on the smallest possible thing that you can manage at the moment, given your current capacity, resources, and biological rhythm. Decrease the challenge-skills balance until the task is almost ridiculously simple and requires zero activation energy to engage.
And because flow follows focus, if you focus intensely like this, you can coax flow to the surface. This will boost performance and make even the most complex situations more manageable.
4. Balance the challenge with your skills
If our work or activities are too hard, we might give up. But if they don’t challenge us at all, we will get bored, lose motivation and not achieve flow. To reach flow an activity must be just challenging enough. Remember point 4 of Csikszentmihalyi’s list. People in flow usually know that the activity is doable – that their skills are adequate to the task.
When you’re struggling with a task, ask yourself why you don’t like it. Is it too hard or too easy? Too boring or repetitive? Is it pulling you away from something more purposeful you’d rather be doing? Get to know yourself and you will find your personal recipe for flow.
5. Retrain your dopamine system
Once you’re in flow, you want to stay in it. Trouble is, the modern world has trained us to respond to instant rewards. When we get instantaneous rewards (in the form of likes, comments, emails, news updates – all those ruby red notifications) then we’re in trouble. If we keep this up, that which isn’t instantly rewarding becomes all but impossible to tolerate.
The dopamine hits we get from this endlessly distracting world of super stimulators are utterly absent from the deep work time spent in flow. So turn those notifications off, spend longer away from your phone, fight the urge to check the internet and dip into what truly moves you.
Last thoughts
I love how flow can produce a sense of clarity, serenity and inner motivation. How it releases a powerful cocktail of neurochemicals that improve mood and cognitive function. How during flow, every action and creative decision feels like it leads on seamlessly to the next.
Without flow, hard work isn’t instantaneously rewarding. But with it, we can reach a deeper level of understanding and satisfaction.
Once you start to experience flow more often you will recognise it and learn your personal route there. For now, start with the above tools to reach this highly addictive state, and boost your productivity – and most importantly – your overall happiness!
