Think back to a time when you were a young kid completely absorbed in an activity: your vision, attention and state of being engaged so intensely that time ceased to exist. Your consciousness became completely synchronized with the activity you were participating in. You might have even felt a sense of unity, stress relief and bliss in the moment Csikszentmihalyi describes as a “Flow State”.
This book - rather than teaching the steps to cultivate a flow state - explains the psychological and philosophical importance of regularly cultivating flow states in our daily lives. All of us undergo an unfortunate daily dosage of monotony: rather it be traffic, homework, paying bills, or attending social gatherings we don’t particularly enjoy. It can be easy to get so caught up in fulfilling the operational duties of our life that we forget to feel complete moments of engagement; however, our busy schedules do not excuse us from trying to find activities that make us happy. Nor does working in a position that is not our dream job prohibit us from transforming our work into an environment for flow.
If you’re like me, you think flow states only result from actives that are “fun”. This book completely changed my perspective by arguing that any activity can be turned into a flow state with proper mindfulness and concentration. Csikszentmihalyi states that having these sorts of hobbies that challenge you, engage your creative side and suspend your conception of time are a prerequisite for a fulfilling life. We can fall into the trap of believing entertainment or easily accessible pleasures can make us happy. Csikszentmihalyi states that these actives do not stimulate our concentration or challenge us. If anything, we sometimes feel guilty about engaging in mindless activities. Activities that challenge us to express ourselves creatively provide immense gratification. Happiness is a feeling of achievement from pursuing and accomplishing challenging goals. While difficult and sometimes frustrating, overcoming adversity helps give our life meaning.
I currently work 50+ hours a week with a one hour commute to work. While I may not have ample time to work on things I am extremely passionate about, I do not let this hinder me from cultivating flow states on a daily basis. These moments make me feel like I have achieved the apex of human consciousness through creativity and concentration. I’d like to share some potential ideas for cultivating flow states:
1. Learn a new skill
This can be anything that you have been interested to learn: a foreign language, public speaking, fiction writing, a musical instrument or a new sport. The key to this is to not be discouraged by your initial inadequacy (everyone is usually bad at something they try for the first time). This will unlock a new side of your brain and allow you to express yourself. Another great advantage of pursuing your interests is the opportunity to meet a community of people who share your same values, passions and interests.
2. Spend time conversating with intelligent people
Nothing makes time fly by more than being engaged in philosophical conversation with one of my best friends. Exploring the miracles of society, history, religion, and science increase your sense of wonder and gratitude. What’s more, you walk away from conversations with smart people feeling inspired and rejuvenated. My best friends motivate me to try new approaches and pursue new goals. Humans are social animals that rely on human connection to provide a sense of relatedness and joy.
3. Do something physical every day.
I would like to preface this by saying if you hate going to the gym, you should not go to the gym. You should do something physical that excites you! I will not expound the benefits of exercise as I think they are rather obvious by now.What I will say is that the feeling you receive from accomplishing a hard-physical task provides you with a self-esteem boost that carries you throughout the day. What’s more, you can multitask while you are being active. I personally love to listen to audio-books, call my best friends and learn new skills while I am on the treadmill. I encourage you to exercise as much as you can outside. No other activity cures me of stress and anxiety more than talking a walk outside on a sunny day.
4. Turn your daily task into flow states.
If you’ve been working at a job for a long time and feel warn out by the routine, this does not mean you need to seek external means to cultivate flow states. I think we oftentimes get bored at our jobs because we just wish to do the bare minimum so we can go home early and watch television. I personally think that our jobs provide the most accessible opportunities to cultivate flow states. Here are 3 tips to make your job a place for growth, focus and achievement:
Have coffee with a new person everyday (preferably someone who has a different job than you). This will expand your network, create new opportunities and help you make new friends.
Learn a skill that can make your current job easier or more efficient. I think that programming has the opportunity to automate the most boring tasks of our daily lives and allows us to cultivate a deep flow state.
Set goals. If your only goal is to be unnoticed and do the bare minimum to get a paycheck, you will dreadfully count the hours till you can go home and sleep just to do it all again. I think that seeking promotions, shrinking timelines for tasks and cultivating a love for learning can make any job enjoyable; yes, any job. I’ve worked at smoothie shops, painted houses, sold fireworks, and been a referee; more responsibility and pressure force you to dig deep and improve.
Scheduling time for flow states
It can be easy to convince ourselves that we do not have enough time for the activities that make us happy. Oftentimes, after completing our tasks for the day, doing something we enjoy can actually sound burdensome. Something I have come to notice is that my mind frequently deceives me. My tired brain convinces me that the task will be arduous, when in actuality, it will be so engaging and enjoyable I cannot believe I did not make time for it sooner. I find that Sunday’s are a great time to post up at a coffee shop and plan my week accordingly. Even with a busy schedule, we should try to squeeze in at-least 1-2 hours of flow states every day.
Concluding Note
This book provided a rationale for making constant improvement a mentally stimulating activity. No one has ever looked back on their day and said, “wow, that really sucked! I got a lot done and felt challenged, engaged and productive”. It is our own personal responsibility to make our lives meaningful and enjoyable. No one will do it for us.
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