Flow

"A state of effortless effort".

Flow here is described as a state of mind where time can do by quickly, and everything besides what you are focused on seems to disappear. These moments are characterized by total attention and absorption. Some neuroscientists believe flow is the source code for intrinsic motivation. ¹

The golden rule to flow is the challenge-skills balance - we pay the most attention to the task at hand when the challenge of that task is slightly exceeds our skillset.

To get into flow, around 22 flow triggers have been identified ² (* indicates very important): (Internal triggers)

• Clear goals: Knowing exactly what is needed to be done to get a good outcome.
• Unambiguous feedback.
• Challenge-skill balance.
• (*) Concentration: Manage your distractions, coders in flow take around 15 minutes to go back into flow if they are distracted, if they can get back into flow at all.
• (*) Curiosity, Passion, Purpose.
• Autonomy.
• Spite: An intense desire to prove someone wrong.

(External triggers)

• (*) High consequence/risk: Can be physical, social, emotional, creative, financial risks that are related to the task at hand.
• (*) Novelty.
• Complexity.
• Unpredictability.
• Deep embodiment: Feeling of being one with the surroundings.

(Creative triggers)

• Creativity and Pattern Recognition: The pleasure derived from linking old and new information.

(Group triggers)

• Shared goals.
• Equal participation.
• Blending egos.
• Close listening.
• Yes, and: Always go for accepting ideas, and extend them, and take the action of setting aside an idea from someone as a very serious action.
• Complete concentration.
• Sense of control.
• Familiarity.
• Open communication.
• Shared risk.

Flow is a 4 part cycle:

• Struggle/Loading: E.g. learning to swing a bat at the ball, planning a new book, diagramming structure of a project etc.
• Release: Take your mind off the problem, e.g. via long walks, gardening, building some toy models, but not things like television.
• Flow state.
• Recovery: When the feel good chemicals are drained out of your system. This is often unpleasant.

The hard part is to get comfortable with the struggle and recovery phases.

People who score well on well-being and satisfaction are those with the most flow in their lives.