By Zach Clement
Have you ever had a moment when you were so involved with what you were doing that you felt like you were one with the activity? Maybe you were playing a sport, performing in a play, or solving a complex problem at work. Experiences like these can be very meaningful, and they can represent the realization of one’s full potential. Athletes, musicians, artists, comedians, and authors are motivated to do what they do because they find purpose and meaning in being one with their activity.
The psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi called these types of experiences flow experiences, and he made it his mission to figure out what led to people having them.¹ He found that flow experiences usually happened when people engaged in challenging activities in areas in which they were highly skilled. However, when the challenge level was not well-matched to the person’s skill level, people tended to have boredom (when the task wasn’t challenging enough) or anxiety (when the task was too challenging). In this post, I’ll talk about what you can do to change the nature of the activities you participate in so you can have more flow experiences.
1. Give yourself more time to complete a task
Sometimes, changing the challenge level of an activity to match your skill level involves giving yourself a little more time to do a difficult task. For example, I generally find writing computer code enjoyable. Finding new ways to think about problems and express solutions is a challenging task, and I generally feel that it is well-matched to my skill levels as long as I have time to think about solutions to problems. However, if I’m trying to write code an hour before a deadline, I tend to have more anxiety than flow.
Trying to complete a large task in a short amount of time is a surefire way to increase your anxiety about the task and diminish the chance of having a flow experience. Even experiences that would ordinarily be enjoyable and fulfilling can become stressful when there isn’t adequate time to complete them. So, if you’re finding a normally enjoyable activity stressful, maybe all you need is to give yourself more time to complete the task.
2. Set clear goals for yourself
An essential characteristic of flow activities is clear feedback about success or failure. When I’m writing computer code, there’s not much ambiguity in whether I was successful or not when I write a statement. I have an expected result I want the code to produce, and it either produces that result or it doesn’t. This is helpful to me because I know I’m on the right track and I don’t have to spend much time figuring out what I need to do.
Having clear goals tends to help people to have more flow in a variety of activities. For example, when people are learning art skills, those who have clear directions and immediate feedback (such as drawing something they have in front of them) experience more flow than those who have less clear direction.² So, next time you’re participating in a challenging activity, find a way to make the challenge something concrete and find a way to get immediate feedback on whether you’re succeeding. This could mean keeping track of how you’ve performed across time or choosing to participate in activities in ways that will make your success more apparent.
3. Involve others in your experience
Flow is enjoyable when you’re doing something by yourself, but it’s more enjoyable when you involve other people. In a study of pickle ball playing and flow, people had more flow experiences when they played against other people or in teams of two than when they played against themselves.³ This works in other contexts as well; people who play jazz music (which involves improvisation and responding to other people) tend to have more flow experiences than people who perform orchestra music (which involves playing prepared notes together). The interaction with other people increases the complexity of the task and makes flow more likely.
So, next time you’re participating in a flow activity, try to involve a friend. Instead of shooting hoops by yourself, play a game of one-on-one. Or instead of cooking a complex dinner alone, ask someone else to help you. Participating in flow experiences with other people can help you become more engaged in the task and it can lead to a more rewarding, meaningful experience.
Building more flow experiences into your life can increase the meaning and satisfaction you have with your life. It can help turn experiences that were previously boring or anxiety-provoking into fulfilling, engaging episodes of focused concentration. As you learn to structure your time to have more flow experiences, you can find more meaning and enjoyment in your activities, and have a better life overall.
Footnotes:
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997). Finding flow: The psychology of engagement with everyday life. Basic Books.
Chilton, G. (2013). Art therapy and flow: A review of the literature and applications. Art Therapy, 30(2), 64-70.
Walker, C. J. (2010). Experiencing flow: Is doing it together better than doing it alone?. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 5(1), 3-11