Flow at work is when you’re so immersed in a task or project that you lose track of time. One of the most rewarding things to do at work is to achieve flow state. Here are a few examples of flow state in different areas of life: Flow state at work When that focus transforms into flow state, it can feel like you’re so involved in your activity that time melts away. Essentially, you can be in the flow during any activity that takes a lot of focus. You can achieve flow state in many areas of life-not just at work. In fact, when Cal Newport first developed his deep work hypothesis, he defined deep work as “the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task.” Read: How “deep work” changes the way we work Flow state examples Additionally, while flow state is achieved by the balance between skill and challenge, deep work focuses on helping you achieve something complicated. While flow state can be experienced in various aspects of life-including sports, meditation, and art-deep work is typically associated with the workplace. In practice, these terms refer to similar experiences, but there is a difference between flow state and deep work-and how you can use both to your advantage. You may have heard the terms flow state and deep work used interchangeably. Increased satisfaction because what you produce during flow state tends to be its own rewardįeelings of increased creativity because you’re less self-conscious during flow stateĬonfidence that what you’re working on is achievable In addition to simply feeling good, getting in the flow has a variety of benefits, including:įeeling in tune with (and in control of) your emotions Sense of personal control and agency over the taskĪutotelic experience (i.e. Intense, focused concentration on a specific task Csikszentmihalyi named this experience “flow” because, while interviewing people about this feeling, many people described the sensation of flowing along with a river.Īccording to Csikszentmihalyi, there are eight key factors that contribute to flow state:

Csikszentmihalyi isn’t the first person to identify flow state-but he recorded this phenomenon as part of a larger psychological study. The term “flow” was first coined by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the father of positive psychology, which is the scientific study of what makes life worth living. During flow state, you unlock a sense of effortless attention to the task at hand-as a result, being in the flow can be an energizing experience. When you’re in the flow, you’re totally immersed in whatever you’re doing to the point that you often lose track of time or ignore outside distractions. What is flow state?įlow state is that hard-to-describe feeling of being so in the zone that everything else falls away. In this article, we’ll demystify flow state and help you get into the flow in your day to day. Luckily, flow state isn’t as hard to get into as it might seem. When you’re in flow state, productivity and creativity skyrocket, and getting great work done can feel almost effortless. One of the best feelings at work is being in the zone-work feels effortless, everything else falls away, and we even lose track of time.īeing in the zone has another name: flow state. While flow state can be elusive, these six daily practices can help you get (and stay) in the zone. Achieving flow state at work can boost your focus, creativity, and engagement-not to mention, it just feels great. When you’re in flow state, you’re immersed in a task to the point where you lose track of time and ignore outside distractions.

The flow experience definition