Get in Flow

The psychological state termed “flow” is defined as an intentional awareness of what is, being aware of awareness. First coined by M. Csikszentmihalyi (1996) in his book Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention, flow is often achieved while being creative and immersed in something you love to do. In positive psychology, a flow state, also known colloquially as being in the zone, Csikszentmihalyi defined flow as the mental state in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by the complete absorption in what one does, and a resulting in a distorted sense of time (as in “how did an hour go by!” feeling).

Have you felt flow before?

What do you like to do? Select something in which you think you can immerse yourself for 45 min – an hour. This might be playing music, painting, walking through the woods, doodling/drawing, making pottery, knitting — anything in which you can experience flow.

In 300 words, reflect on whether you think you achieved flow or not? If you do not think you did, what might have impacted this? What would you differently?

If you achieved flow, what did it feel like? How did it impact your emotions/mood? Any surprises?