flow state
A desirable experience
“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” (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990)¹
What flow means to me
I love being in the flow. I experience this state most when I create new things, for example by painting, sewing or making collages. But I also have moments like this in my day job as an operation manager in an EdTech company, especially when I learn new things and combine these with structures that are familiar to me. It leaves me with a deeply fulfilling feeling of conquest and contentment.
Components of the flow state
- 1. The activity is intrinsically rewarding.
- 2. There is a complete focus on the activity itself.
- 3. People have feelings of serenity and a loss of self-consciousness.
- 4. People experience a lack of awareness of their physical needs.
- 5. There is strong concentration and focused attention.
- 6. People experience timelessness, or a distorted sense of time, that involves feeling so focused on the present that you lose track of time passing.
Âą Csikszentmihalyi: Flow: The psychology of optimal experience, Harper &
Row, January 1990.
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