Definition

• The state of gratification we enter when we feel completely engaged in what we are doing.
• The absence of emotion or consciousness.
• Absorption, the loss of self-consciousness, and the stopping of time.
• Suspending self-awareness.

Characteristics

The experience of flow has several of these characteristics:

• Clear and attainable goals.
• Concentrating and focusing—a high degree of concentration on a limited field of attention. A person engaged in the activity will have the opportunity to focus and to delve deeply into it. People become absorbed in their activity, and their focus of awareness is narrowed to the activity itself.
• A loss of the feeling of self-consciousness, the merging of action and awareness.
• A distorted sense of time, your subjective experience of time is altered.
• Direct and immediate feedback—successes and failures in the course of the activity are apparent, so that behavior can be rapidly adjusted as needed.
• An appropriate challenge, neither too difficult nor too easy—Competency is demonstrated.
• A sense of personal control over the situation or activity.
• The activity is intrinsically rewarding—action becomes effortless.

Quotations

• “There is never nothing going on.” ~

References

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, by Ken Robinson and Lou Aronica

Curious?: Discover the Missing Ingredient to a Fulfilling Life, by Todd Kashdan