in his theory of flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi shares that the being hyper-focused increases your … [+]
Have you ever been so focused that you can concentrate on one task for a prolonged period? You are not the least bit distracted. You cannot work fast enough on the project before you, as you are so excited and intrigued. There is no need to get up and stretch, eat, drink or go to the bathroom. You do not realize that it is now dark outside and happily ignore endless emails and social media notifications. You are entirely in the zone and absorbed in your work. It is a feeling of euphoria.
The hyper-focused concentration makes you productive and happy, and you likely wish you could bottle it and do it again. Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a Hungarian-American psychologist, who sadly died last week, is credited for his work on flow theory (click here to watch his TED Talk on “Flow, the Secret to Happiness, which has been viewed 6.7 million times). Csikszentmihalyi’s work, introduced in his best-selling book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience) underscored that people are happiest when they are in a state of flow. This flow state usually occurs when multiple things happen in concert:
Find your intrinsic motivation
When you are working on something you are passionate about, you become intrinsically motivated, and the work brings you joy and fulfillment. The driving force is not external validation such as a promotion, award, or recognition; rather, it is from the fire that burns within (Click here to read my earlier Forbes article on finding your passion project). Your ego subsides as you become hyper-focused on the task. All of the high achievers I’ve interviewed over the years, from Nobel Prize winners to Olympians, mention working in a state of flow as critical to their success.
Useful feedback
“Good job” is not very useful feedback. What exactly was good? What could have been better? How could we have made it more efficient or impactful? Getting specific feedback in real-time helps maintain a flow experience.
Skills and challenges are positively aligned
To achieve the elusive flow state, there must be a critical and increasingly positive balance between skill and challenge. If the task is too easy or too hard, or the challenge too complex or straightforward, it is difficult for flow to emerge. As your skills progress, so too must the challenge, as that is where real learning occurs.
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Along with the theory of flow, Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi co-founded the field of positive psychology alongside Dr. Martin Seligman. Together, they focused on happiness, well-being, and positivity through biological, personal, institutional, relational, and cultural mediums. Their work focuses on positive emotions connected to being content with one’s past, happy in the present, and having hope for the future; in general, a life worth living.
Seligman remembers Csikszentmihalyi as “the co-founder of Positive Psychology, my friend, my comrade-in-arms and that rarest of colleagues in academia today—a true polymath.”
As we battle with increased burnout, employers reimagining what the future of work looks like, and employees seek greater meaning from their work, positive psychology, and flow theory will likely play a more prominent role in the days and years ahead.
