What Is Flow State and How Do I Tap Into It?

The concept of flow state was first introduced by Hungarian-American psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in the 1970s. Csikszentmihalyi grew up in war times and was a prisoner during World War II. After the war, amongst the sadness and hardship of rebuilding life, Csikszentmihalyi sought after the question of what made life worth living. This eventually led him to psychology and the study of what causes happiness. He was curious about the enjoyment people experienced when they did tasks that were not rewarded with money or fame—tasks that were rewarding in themselves. In his research, he discovered that intense enjoyment came not when people were relaxed or in passive activities like watching tv, but when they were fully immersed and involved in activities.

Today we are torn in so many different directions as we multitask our never ending to-do lists and face a constant pressure to be productive and successful. Having a fractured focus that is strewn across too many tasks is not only unproductive, but it drains our energy and brings feelings of ‘not enough-ness’. I resonate with the feeling Bilbo Baggins describes in The Hobbit when he says “I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.” Having too many tasks to do at once leads to procrastination, a shortened attention span, less productivity and a lack of satisfaction, ease and joy. How do we fix this? By learning how to dip into flow state and learning to focus on one task at a time.

To enter flow state depends more on the mindset you have approaching the task than the task itself. It is easier to get into flow state in activities you enjoy but I believe you can certainly get into flow state during activities you wouldn’t typically consider ‘fun’. For example, cleaning my house is definitely not at the top of my fun-list but I often find that once I start the task, the hours fly by and suddenly my house is spotless. You can really enter flow state doing any action—the key is to give the task 100% of your attention. This is also a meditative practice that monk Thich Nhat Hanh talks about in The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation, he says “Don’t do any task in order to get it over with. Resolve to do each job in a relaxed way, with all your attention. Enjoy and be one with your work.” This is flow state. Being one with your work and enjoying the process of it. The feeling of the warm soap on your hands as you wash the dishes, the sound of the knife hitting the cutting board as you chop vegetables, the effortless flow of banter as you get into a deep conversation with someone, the feeling of the air moving around you as you dance.

These are two of my go-to playlists for when I want to get into the zone. I will either go for a calm sustained focus if I am in a quieter mood or more of a rhythmic driven focus if I am feeling more energized. Music provides a rhythmic stimuli to the brain. It helps to block out distractions and engage your attention in a pleasant way, so I often use it as a catalyst for getting into flow state. Try listening to different types of music and see what works best for you. The music I choose depends on my mood, I will listen to anything from meditative music to movie scores to iconic rock and sometimes I will just work in silence listening to whatever sounds are around me.

I wish you all a very enjoyable and focused week! I hope you all get a taste of the zone and feel the satisfaction of being in the moment.

♥ Best,
Hayley