Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi describes 'Flow' as a mental state of complete absorption in the current experience. Flow is a pivotal term in positive psychology. His popular book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience is based on the premise that happiness levels can be shifted through the introduction of more flow.
“The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times The best moments usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.” – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Here’s a fun trick to remember his name: “Me high? Cheeks send me high!”) Do you remember that moment when creativity and productivity sprung from your mind smoothly? According to positive psychology cofounder Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, this state is called flow, and it is an important contributor to creativity and well-being. Become a Science-Based Practitioner! The Positive Psychology toolkit is a science-based, online platform containing 135+ exercises, activities, interventions, questionnaires, assessments and scales.
The experience of flow is universal and it has been reported to occur across different classes, genders, ages, cultures and it can be experienced in many types of activities. If you’ve ever heard someone describe a time when their performance excelled and they used the term being “in the zone”, what they’re describing is an experience of flow. It occurs when your skill level and the challenge at hand are equal. Here’s a short video with a great explanation of Flow: Who is Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi? From his own adverse experiences as a prisoner during World War II and from witnessing the pain and suffering from many people around him during this time, he developed a curiosity about happiness and being content with life. He observed how many people were unable to live a life of contentment after their jobs, homes, security, etc, were taken from them during the war. After the war, he read philosophy and took an interest in art and religion as a means to seek an answer to the question, what creates a life worth living? Eventually, he stumbled upon psychology whilst at a ski resort in Switzerland.
He attended a lecture by Carl Jung, who talked about the traumatized psyches of the European people after World War II. He was so intrigued that he started to read Jung’s work, and eventually took an interest in psychology. Which in turn led him to the United States to pursue psychology. What he really wanted was to study the roots of happiness.
Finding Out What Happiness Really Is His studies led him to conclude that happiness is an internal state of being, not an external one. His popular book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience is based on the premise that happiness levels can be shifted through the introduction of more flow. Happiness is not a rigid state that can’t be changed. On the contrary, happiness takes a committed effort to be manifested.
After the baseline set point, there is a percentage of happiness that every individual has the responsibility to take control of. He believes that flow is crucial to creating genuine happiness. “Happiness takes a committed effort to be manifested.” Through much research he began to understand that people were most creative, productive, and often, happiest when they are in this state of flow. He interviewed athletes, musicians, artists, etc.
Because he wanted to know when they experienced the most optimal performance levels. He was also interested in finding out how they felt during these experiences. He developed the term flow state because many of the people he interviewed described their optimal states of performance as instances when their work simply flowed out of them without much effort. He aimed to discover what piqued creativity, especially in the workplace, and how creativity lead to more productivity. He also determined that flow is not only essential to a productive employee but it is imperative for a contented one as well.
In his own words, flow is: “A state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience is so enjoyable that people will continue to do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.” – Csikszentmihalyi, 1990 Here are some of the characteristics that comprise Csikszentmihalyi’s definition of optimal flow performance. The 8 Characteristics of Flow Csikszentmihalyi describes 8 characteristics of flow:.
Complete concentration on the task. Clarity of goals and reward in mind and immediate feedback. Transformation of time (speeding up/slowing down of time). The experience is intrinsically rewarding. Effortlessness and ease.
There is a balance between challenge and skills. Actions and awareness are merged, losing self-conscious rumination. There is a feeling of control over the task Who Experiences Flow? Interestingly, a capacity to experience flow can differ from person to person. Studies suggest that those with ‘’ autotelic personalities’’ tend to experience more flow.
A person with an ‘’autotelic personality’’ tends to do things for their own sake rather than chasing some distant external goal. This type of personality is distinguished by certain meta-skills such as high interest in life, persistence, as well as low self-centeredness.
Moreover, in a recent study investigating associations between flow and the 5-personality types, they found a negative correlation with neuroticism and a positive correlation between conscientiousness with the state of flow. It can be speculated that neurotic individuals are more prone to anxiety and self-criticism, which are conditions that can disrupt this state.
In contrast, conscientious individuals are more likely to spend time on mastering challenging tasks, which are characteristics important for flow experience. What Happens in the Brain During Flow? This marathon runner definitely has decreased prefrontal cortex activity The state of flow has been rarely investigated from a neuropsychological perspective but is a growing interest. According to Dietrich, it has been associated with decreased activity in the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is an area responsible for higher cognitive functions such as self-reflective consciousness, memory, temporal integration, and working memory. It’s an area that’s responsible for our conscious and explicit mind state.
However, in a state of flow, this area is believed to temporarily down-regulate; a process called transient hypofrontality. This temporary inactivation of the prefrontal area may trigger the feeling of distortion of time, loss of self-consciousness, and loss of inner-critic. Moreover, the inhibition of the prefrontal lobe may enable the implicit mind to take over, resulting in more brain areas to communicate freely and engage in a creative process. In other research, it’s also hypothesized that the flow state is related to the brain’s dopamine reward circuitry since curiosity is highly amplified. How to Get Into The Flow? It’s important to note that one can’t experience flow if other distractions disrupt the experience (Nakamura et al., 2009). Thus, to experience this state, one has to stay away from the attention-robbers in our modern fast-paced life.
A first step would be to dump your smartphone ? Also, the balance of perceived challenges and skills are important factors (Nakamura et al., 2009). On the one hand, when a challenge is bigger than one’s level of skills, one becomes anxious and stressed. On the other hand, when the level of skill exceeds the size of the challenge, one becomes bored and distracted. Since the experience of this state is just in the middle, the balance is essential. “Inducing flow is about the balance between the level of skill and the size of the challenge at hand.” The experience of flow in everyday life is an important component of creativity and well-being. Indeed, it can be prescribed as a key aspect of ‘’ ’’ or self-actualization in an individual, a contradictory term to “hedonia” or pleasure. Since it is also intrinsically rewarding, the more you practice it, the more you seek to replicate these experiences, which help lead to a fully engaged and happy life.
Don’t Flow Alone Researchers from St. Bonaventure University asked students to participate in activities that would induce flow either in a team or by themselves.
Students rated flow to be more enjoyable when in a team rather than when they were alone. Students also found it more joyful if the team members were able to talk to one another. This finding was replicated even when skill level and challenge were equal. A final study found that being in an interdependent group whilst in flow is more enjoyable than one that is not. So, if you want to get more enjoyment out of an experience of flow, try engaging in activities together.
This beautifully echoes Christopher Peterson’s conclusion that positive psychology can be summed up in three words: ““. What is The Motivation Behind Your Flow State? Most of your conscious action requires motivation and there are two basic types: Intrinsic and Extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is where you do something because you love it.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2013) said the highest intrinsic motivation is “Flow” where self-consciousness is lost, one surrenders completely to the moment and time means nothing. Like when a competent musician plays without thinking, or a surfer catches a great wave and rides it with joy. Extrinsic motivation is where your motivation to succeed is controlled externally. Fear motivation is not getting into trouble or working hard to earn more money. That type of motivation is short-lived. Good extrinsic motivation is where you are practicing to get better but you still need a tutor or teacher to validate your efforts.
Using Images To Boost Confidence And Flow Psychologists Koehn et al. (2013) conducted research into different performance contexts and the production of the flow state, looking specifically at the way imagery and confidence levels interact to create flow.
Participants completed imagery and confidence measures before undertaking a field test (Koehn et al., 2013). Measuring the performance of a tennis groundstroke, Koehn et al. (2013) found a significant interaction between imagery and confidence. (2013) were able to demonstrate positive associations between imagery, confidence and the inducement of a flow state, which in turn predicts increased performance. In essence, the conduction of a flow state is seen to significantly increase performance levels in a given external task (Koehn et al., 2013). TED Talk On Flow: The Secret To Happiness We leave you with the Ted Talk of this great scientist and we’d love to hear from you, how often do you experience flow and what type of activities lead to this experience.
Drop us a comment below. References.
I first read this book back in 1997. Recently, during the Chicago Chapter IDSA quarterly book read and review, I was informed that “Flow – The Psychology of Optimal Experience,” by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, was the book in review.
I thought “what a great re-read.” I did not want to re-read this book for what I got out if it the first time. I wanted to re-read this book NOT for the flow of mind where one learns from a scientific point of view about one losing himself in flow and thought. NOT to simply re affirm flow with examples like how a painter becomes one with the process of painting or how a runner loses herself when running. The optimal experience as this book points out is the essence of happiness. This psychology is all very interesting to industrial designers and product engineers.
I wanted to re-read it from the perspective of a designer. While this is not a self-help book, it does just that. Mihaly makes it clear and articulates his points backed scientifically with what we already know to be true. In work, sport, conversation or hobby, you as a designer have experienced the suspension of time, the freedom of complete absorption in activity.
Now with this re-read I wanted to see if from a designers perspective one could think about design of products that help us reach optimal experiences. Usually when we design products we think of shape and form. We think of functionality. By studying the physiology of conciseness we might be able to design next generation products that engage or enable consumers to achieve optimal experiences. Though, one designer pointed out in his review that it is easy to re-affirm what designers already understand. To him, the book only pointed out basic observations that he as a designer already has a sense for.
The author’s writing style is concise and he is able to articulate complex ideas in a simple and understandable manner. In chapter three, the author writes about enjoyment and the quality of life: “In a healthy culture, productive work and necessary routines of everyday life are also satisfying. In fact, one purpose of this book is to explore ways in which even routine details can be transformed into personally meaningful games that provide optimal experiences”.
Not for money, fame, or reward, but for the enrichment of life with enjoyable experiences that helps us obtain happiness and/or flow. The author states in the second chapter, “The best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile. Optimal experience is something that we make happen”. By reading this book one is enabled to apply years of scientific study to your products as well. You don’t see many profound, significant books that are, at the same time, practical to a designer.
This book is one of the few. The first three chapters takes a look at our human condition and asks the question, ‘How can I enjoy life?’ The rest of the book is an answer to that question. And the author is not being philosophical. He answers the question scientifically complete with examples.
He’s done an unusual kind of research for about 35 years, strapping pagers on thousands of people. The pagers go off randomly during the day and the volunteers stop what they’re doing and fill out a questionnaire measuring their mood, their level of involvement in what they’re doing, etc. He’s gotten more than 100,000 of these snapshots of people’s lives and discovered a state of mind he calls “flow.” He tells you what conditions are the most conducive to creating a state of flow. To overcome these obstacles or to obtain more flow situations, people search for religions, philosophies, arts, and comforts as the author pointed out. I noticed once at lunch while visiting a major manufacturer, employees were playing solitaire at work. Initially, I thought “those people waste such precious time on such a miniscule game.” Yet now after reading this book I understand that those employees were simply allowing themselves to experience Flow. They were honing their thinking skills.
They were balanced by experiencing flow. The ability to achieve “optimal experience” is tightly linked to the ability to focus on fulfilling personally determined goals.
One interesting comment found in the book makes me think in a perspective related to product design. “Surrounded by an astounding panoply of recreational gadgets and leisure choices, most of us go on being bored and vaguely frustrated.” All of us will spend our lives searching for happiness and try to remain in the “Flow” as our inane natural human desire. One diagram in chapter four indicates the flow channel as a function of anxiety versus boredom. To stay in the flow one must be challenged so the activity is not boring. Yet not with overwhelming challenges that can create anxiety.
This blend of skills and challenges is just one example of how designers and engineers will value this read. In conclusion, as an effort to get designers and engineers to read this book, let me mention that the author interestingly comments not only on the pursuit of happiness but also references culture and society. He makes many references and examples that gets the reader thinking. This is one of those books that will make you take notes as you read. The author references historical figures, philosophers, and scientists with excellent examples. I found fascinating the authors compelling arguments about the functioning of the human mind and spirit.
He mentions joy, creativity, government, chaos, quality of childhood, goals, control, meaning, solitude, stress, anxiety, community, writing, sports, and the challenges of lifelong learning. The implications for its application to society are what makes the book revolutionary and perhaps at the front of a movement for the next big age. Read this book and let me know your thoughts ISBN-10: ISBN-13: 9432 Review Written. We help designers, engineers, draftsmen, and mechanics get better jobs, earn more money, design better products and games, become more innovative and creative, and outshine their competition.
Since 1994 we’ve trained thousands of designers and engineers from companies like Motorola, Caterpillar, John Deere, Harley Davidson, and NASA. We increase your software comprehension. But more than that, we increase your knowledge of specific design and engineering techniques. This means that using software becomes more graceful, effortless, and flexible for you on all your projects. Our commitment is to provide the best training for the product design and development, industrial design and engineering community. DESIGN-ENGINE EDUCATION strives to empower students and organizations to significantly increase their design and engineering capabilities through innovative and comprehensive training challenges. Our engineering, product design, and industrial design training methods are outside-the-box, rather than the typical classroom book training.