The Psychology of Flow (in under 300 words)

What is it like to be fully alive, right now, engaged with what you are doing? That's the psychology of flow.

When the happiness and creativity expert Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi was studying how painters work, he noticed an odd thing.

When their painting was going well they didn't care about getting tired, hungry or uncomfortable, they just carried on.

But when the painting was finished, they rapidly lost interest in it.

What was this special state of mind that seemed to absorb the whole of your being?

Csikszentmihalyi called it a 'flow state'.

It's the experience of being fully engaged with what you're currently doing.
When you're in a flow state:

an hour can pass in the blink of an eye,
you feel what you are doing is important,
you're not self-conscious,
action and awareness merges,
you feel in full control,
and the experience is intrinsically rewarding.

To create a flow experience, you need:

to be internally motivated, i.e. you are doing the activity mainly for its own sake,
the task should stretch your skills almost to the limits, but not so much that it makes you too anxious,
there should be clear short-term goals for what you are trying to achieve,
and you should get immediate feedback on how you are doing, i.e. you can see how the painting, photo, blog post etc. is turning out.

The experience of flow has been studied amongst surgeons, writers, artists, scientists, athletes and people just socialising and playing games. The experience of peak performance is very similar, whatever the activity.

Flow states require a balance, though, as Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi says in his book on the subject, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience:

"Enjoyment appears at the boundary between boredom and anxiety, when the challenges are just balanced with the person's capacity to act."

It's not always easy to achieve but being in a state of flow is a beautiful thing.

Image credit: Catherine Mullhaupt

http://zite.to/NJ62iW

Positive Psychology given credence by Academia:

Positive psychology is the scientific study of the strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive.

Commentators on the subject Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, note that:

"The field of positive psychology at the subjective level is about valued subjective experiences: well-being, contentment, and satisfaction (in the past); hope and optimism (for the future); and flow and happiness (in the present).

At the individual level, it is about positive individual traits: the capacity for love and vocation, courage, interpersonal skill, aesthetic sensibility, perseverance, forgiveness, originality, future mindedness, spirituality, high talent, and wisdom.

At the group level, it is about the civic virtues and the institutions that move individuals toward better citizenship: responsibility, nurturance, altruism, civility, moderation,tolerance, and work ethic."