‘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’ Quote by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of ‘Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience.
Have you ever been engaged in something and suddenly looked at the clock and thought ‘Wow, where did that time go?’ You were in ‘the flow!’ You were so involved in your activity that nothing else seemed to matter.’ This is the state of high engagement.
We look for it in school and see it in all sorts of situations. When a child is drawing, pouring water to and from different containers, building a tower, in the deep throws of writing a story. There are tell - tale signs as they may stick out their tongue, their eyes are totally focused and even if you move close to them they do not seem to notice.
As adults we do the same when we are enjoying what we are doing. It may be a physical exercise or it may be something more academic or creative. I find that I can experience the feeling of ‘flow’ when I am studying a topic I find interesting or working at home, catching up on tasks for my job as a head teacher. I rarely experience flow while I am at school, there just is not the opportunity to focus for long on one topic without constant interruptions such as phone calls and day to day interactions. For this reason I always advise head teachers to have regular days working at home to work on documents, policies or data. This type of work cannot be done at school unless you give strict instructions that you cannot be interrupted! Most of us have open door policies so it really makes sense to work at home!
Idea for today: Think about when you last found yourself in the ‘flow’. Can you put things in place to support ways to enable you to experience ‘flow’ more often?
There are certain conditions for ‘flow’ to occur.
Firstly, your goals must be clear and compelling, secondly feedback needs to be immediate and thirdly, you need a balance between challenge and capacity.
Think about these conditions. If you are working on something which you don’t fully understand or value, it is difficult to even get started, let alone become involved. If you don’t feel you are achieving anything it is difficult to stay on track, what is the point? Feedback does not always have to come from someone else, we know when we have worked hard and completed something to the best of our ability. Thirdly, if your task is too easy you get bored and find it difficult to carry on.
But why does ‘flow’ matter? Who cares if we never find ourselves in those situations?
Researchers have found that ‘flow’ is an aspect of positive well-being. There are two strands of well-being: 'Hedonic' which is the short term feelings of happiness we feel when the sun is shining or we have shared a joke with friends. 'Eudaimonic' well-being is the deeper happiness we gain from living a ‘meaningful life’ and serving a purpose beyond ourselves.
‘Flow’ is part of the eudaimonic strand of well-being. It is connected to our strengths and is more sustainable than hedonic well-being. So if we can spend more time in ‘flow’, engaged in meaningful activities it is better for our long term well-being. Think about this when you are next in your yoga session or reading that book you cannot put down!
Want to Explore this Further?
Watch this Ted Talk by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Take Action
If you want to work with me to improve your ‘flow’, contact me on isabel@norfolklifecoach.co.uk
Or visit my website https://www.norfolklifecoach.co.uk
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