Flow States

Flow States: Definition

For all of us, certain tasks or jobs are simply more enjoyable than others. You might hate pulling weeds in the garden for your mom, and countdown the moments until the task is done. Thirty minutes in the garden might feel like an eternity. On the other hand, you might absolutely love calculus and look forward to your assignments and homework.

Installing in the library, you become so absorbed in your homework that you are startled to look up and find that three hours have breezed by, and the library has thinned out. You didn't even notice the passage of time or the movement of the people around you as they packed up and left. This is because you were in a flow state.

Flow is a largely beneficial state for most of us. However, there can be times when being so engrossed in something can have adverse effects. Like in 2009 when two pilots flew over 150 miles past their destination. They were so engrossed in their iPads, they didn't even notice the notifications from air traffic control. In this case, flow got them both fired!

Fig. 1 Flow state activity is found in our frontal cortex

During flow states, activity in the frontal cortex is reduced. The frontal cortex is the part of the brain involved in executive tasks like impulse control, problem-solving, social interaction, and attention. A reduction of activity in this area actually reduces self-referential thought. This is why we feel like we lose ourselves, or even the world around us, when we are in a flow state. This reduction of frontal cortex activity actually makes it so that we have more resources and energy for implicit processes, like performing tasks.

Flow States: Examples

We can slip into a flow state doing virtually anything. In flow states, we sharpen our attention on a specific task, which reduces our awareness of external stimuli. The sounds and movements around us don't pull from our attention in the same way as when we are in a normal state of conscious awareness. During flow states, we have a reduced awareness of the passage of time and even of ourselves. Have you ever concentrated intensely on a book and slipped into a flow state, only to find yourself sitting hunched over bizarrely and wondering how long you've been sitting that way? Flow can wreak havoc on our posture, or even cause us to miss a meal and end up ravenous!

Many things can produce a flow state. Because people have an infinite number of interests, there is an infinite number of situations where we can experience flow.

We can fall into a flow state by engaging in creative activities.

You might be surprised how easy it can be to fall into a flow state. Just doing simple daily tasks can be enough to provoke it.

Benefits of Flow States

Rest and idleness are important, but too much of it is actually bad for us. We need engagement, particularly the kind that produces flow states.

Flow states occur when we are deeply engaged in something. They help us pinpoint our purpose in life, and people need purposeful work. Purposeful work leaves us feeling more useful and more fulfilled. A study by Dik & Duffy (2012) and Wrzesniewski & Dutton (2001) asked subjects to categorize their profession into a job, a career, or a calling. Those who saw their professions as a calling reported the highest level of work and life satisfaction.

Flow states boost our sense of well-being, competence, and self-esteem. In a twin study, Mosing et al, (2018) actually found a reduced risk of depression and burnout in people who experienced frequent flow states.

Flow States: Triggers

Certain things can make it harder for us to enter flow states, and you might already have an idea of what one of them might be. If you guessed your smartphone, you're spot on. We are bombarded by distractions through our phones and social media. Every time we pause in what we are doing to check our phones, we have to refocus our attention and rekindle our previous train of thought.

It takes time and energy to do this constant back and forth. It interrupts or prevents us from entering a flow state and reduces our chances of retaining the material we are trying to focus on. A more effective method is to take scheduled breaks to check social media and our phones and put distractions aside for longer durations.

How can we actually trigger a flow state? One helpful way is to try to match your work to your interests.

Buckingham and Donald Clifton (2001) came up with four questions to help target your unique intersection of interests and work.

1. Which activities do I enjoy? Do you like creative projects? Are you a bookworm? Do you like physical things like dance, sports, or martial arts? Addicted to your chemistry set?

2. Which activities are you eager to do again and again? Work takes up an enormous amount of our time in education, training, and practice. What leaves you eager to do again, and not eager to get over with?

3. What kind of challenges do I enjoy? Do you like physical challenges? Mental endurance or intellectual challenges? No matter how smart or informed we are, we will all face challenges and setbacks in our pursuits. What kind of challenges actually reinforce your interest in something?

4. Which tasks or subjects do I learn easily? Our ability to learn well and easily has an enormous amount to do with our interest in and engagement with a topic.

If a particular activity or subject is the answer to all of these questions, look deeper into it. Chances are, you've already experienced flow states while doing it. These are your strengths at work. Dik & Rottinghaus (2013) and Stoll et al. (2017) found that our interests are actually excellent at predicting our future life and career paths.

Flow State Activities

Some activities are actually more likely to encourage us to enter into a flow state. They can be physical, intellectual, creative, or social activities.

Fig, 2 Some activities can encourage a flow state

Physical Activities

Try going for a long run or swimming on your own. Leave your earphones at home for the run to encourage the focused attention of flow states. The consistent breathing and rhythmic nature of certain physical activities can help the world to fall away and focus our attention.

Intellectual

Do a puzzle or write a journal entry. Focusing on writing allows our thoughts to take over. Doing intellectual exercises like puzzles requires the kind of focused attention that reduces our awareness of external stimuli.

Creative

Pull out the colored pencils or paints! Creative activities are remarkably conducive to flow. We can achieve the same experience of the external world falling away when we are wrapped up in finding an image on a blank canvas or playing a piece of music on the piano.

Social

Try a group sport. Sports are remarkably good at bringing people together to work toward a specific, shared goal. These activities require focused attention on the game and also on the members of each team. A lot of professional sports players talk about being "in the zone." The "zone" is the flow state.