When everything feels easy

How to foster flow states in order to be more creative

When pursuing a goal or accomplishing a task or taking care of my mental and bodily health, I’ve come more and more to think that this does not have to be a struggle. It is okay to go about it in an easy way. Flow is a concept that seems to fit in here perfectly.
According to psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, flow is “the optimal experience” and having such experiences is key to feeling contentment and happiness. In flow, we also are more creative and productive. Flow researcher Steven Kotler therefore calls flow the “Superman” experience. (Gender note: it could also be a Wonderwoman or superhuman experience ;-) ).

How to recognize flow

Chances are that you’ve experienced flow, as a process of complete oneness with life, as Csikszentmihalyi puts it. When you get completely absorbed by an activity that you enjoy — reading, running, painting, snowboarding, whatever — that you forgot everything around you and didn’t even notice how much time had passed. The movie “Soul” paints a nice picture for this: When the main character, musician Joe, loses himself in his playing the piano, he enters the “zone” — somewhere beyond the material world.

According to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, you recognize a flow state by the following signs:
- You are completely focused.
- Your perception of time changes (as if time is passing faster or slower).
- You experience a feeling of reward because of neurotransmitters being produced.
- What you are doing feels easy and effortless.
- It’s as if you are functioning automatically.
- You feel challenged but not overwhelmed.
- You feel good and satisfied with what you are doing.

In flow you are extremely creative and productive. When you get into flow, you can accomplish more and come up with new ideas more easily. Flow is also enormously useful for boosting motivation, explains Steven Kotler, author of The Rise of Superman: The neurotransmitters that your body releases in flow make you want to experience this state again.

How to get into flow

In his book Limitless, memory expert Jim Kwik offers these tips for finding flow:
- Clear out distractions: For flow, you want concentration and focus. So clear away anything that might distract you, turn off your cell phone and other devices that might disturb you with messages and reminder sounds.
- Take your time: It takes about 15 minutes to get into the flow. You reach the maximum after about 45 minutes. So you should keep 1.5 to 2 hours free.
- Do what you love: With activities that bore or annoy you, you will hardly get into the flow, because they keep something negative about them. So if you hate running and love riding your bicycle, you’re more likely to get into flow on the bike.
- Have a clear goal in mind: Define what you want to accomplish with the time you’ve freed up. Choose a goal that awakens energy in you. A feeling of “Oh, awesome, I really want to do that” can get you into the flow, a “Might be good to get that done” hardly.
- Challenge yourself: The task you immerse yourself in should not be too easy, so you don’t get bored. A little challenge is good for the flow. But don’t overchallenge yourself, because that can bring frustration instead of flow.

What to avoid when you are aiming for flow

Kwik also describes four “super villains” that crush flow. If you want to foster flow states, you should get rid of these first:
- Multitasking: obviously, being the opposite of focus it is the natural enemy of flow. Stick to one task.
- Stress: Having stressful thoughts sitting in your neck — a deadline to meet, worries etc. — will keep your mind from concentrating and thus hinder flow. Face these issues and ask yourself if you have to deal with them immediately. If the answer is yes, then fix the issue before you aim for flow. In most cases, the stressors won’t get worse over the next two hours. So you can also place them on a waiting bench and tell them you will return to them in two hours. Kwik says you should be putting up a force field that is impenetrable by outside stressors.
- Fear of failure: If you focus too much on not wanting to fail, you distinguish the flame of creativity and excellence. Since flow is connected with moving in a direction slightly beyond what you’ve already mastered, not getting things perfect first try is a sign that you are on the right track.
- Lack of conviction: You cannot get into flow if you doubt that you will accomplish what you aim for. Choose a task you are convinced you have the skills, information, and passion to accomplish.

Flow needs structure

As these tips suggest, even something that sounds so boundless as flow needs some structure to set it in motion: You have to choose an attractive task and take care that your surroundings and your inner state is in line. Then you can move forward with flow just like a boat going with the flow of a river.

Further Information:
Mihaly Csikszentmihaly. Flow. The Psychology of Optimal Experience.
Mihaly Csikszentmihaly. Flow. Das Geheimnis des Glücks.
Jim Kwik. Limitless. Upgrade your brain Learn anything faster and unlock your exceptional life.
Steven Kotler. The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance
https://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly\_csikszentmihalyi\_flow\_the\_secret\_to\_happiness?language=de