Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life (Basic Books, 1997).
“It is the full involvement in flow, rather than happiness, that makes for excellence in life” (p. 39)
A flow experience is said to occur when a person is totally focussed on and immersed in an activity. It is more likely to happen when you have a clear set of (intrinsically motivated) goals, you can tell if you are achieving the goals or not, and your skills are in balance with the goals’ challenges.
Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced chick-SENT-me-high) argues that people “feel best in flow, when they are fully involved in meeting a challenge, solving a problem, discovering something new” (p. 66). In Finding Flow, Csikszentmihalyi offers a guide for inducing flow experiences in daily life. Some of these pointers are stated outright and others I have inferred.
“When goals are clear, feedback relevant, and challenges and skills in balance, attention becomes ordered and fully invested” (p. 31).
Set clear goals. To experience flow it does help to have clear goals, as goals assist with concentration and avoiding distraction (p. 137). Even if, during an activity toward the goal, you don’t slip into the state of flow, just doing something in alignment with your goals improves your “state of mind” (137). As Csikszentmihalyi says, “a simple way of improving the quality of life is to take ownership of one’s actions” (p. 137). Often we must do things we don’t want to do, and we have a choice either to grumble or to do them willingly. Setting a goal even for an unwanted or imposed task can make the task more satisfying.
Organise your surroundings. “If we are to trust the reports of creative thinkers and artists, congenial surroundings are often the source of inspiration and creativity . . . To make a creative change in the quality of experience, it might be useful to experiment with one’s surroundings as well as with activities and companions” (p. 45).
Understand your daily rhythms. We are all aware that the time of day we undertake an activity can have an influence on us. We don’t all perform at 9 am on a Monday through Friday. Reflect on your preferred times and days for activities, and experiment with different daily rhythms. Csikszentmihalyi suggests getting up early, or taking an afternoon nap, or eating your meals at different times, to see what happens.
Turn work into play. From a very young age, many of us learn to separate work and play. Play is fun, and work is work. “What often passes unnoticed is that work is much more like a game than most other things we do during the day. It usually has clear goals and rules of performance. It provides feedback either in the form of knowing that one has finished a job well done . . . or through an evaluation by one’s supervisor. A job usually encourages concentration and prevents distractions; it also allows a variable amount of control, and – at least ideally – its difficulties match the worker’s skills” (p. 59).
Turn play into work. There is a difference between active and passive leisure. Passive leisure requires no concentration or skill, and while it has its place, it should not be the only style of leisure people engage in. Active leisure in contrast is more likely to induce a flow experience and therefore improve quality of life. It is preferrable therefore to pursue active leisure that engages skill and concentration. “To make the best use of free time, one needs to devote as much ingenuity and attention to it as one would to one’s job” (p. 75). Turn work into play and play into work; make work and play “indivisible” (p.77).
Seek enriching relationships. Csikszentmihalyi says that two conditions are necessary for a relationship that leads to “order in consciousness” (p. 81): compatible goals and the willingness to pay attention to the other person's goals. Friends offer us stimulation and the chance to hone our skills, emotional and intellectual (p. 82). Though many creative endeavours require a lot of alone time, there is a need to balance inner reflection and social interaction. Even creative people speak of the necessity, and the enjoyment, of interacting with others (p. 95).
Control your attention. “There is never a good excuse for being bored” (p. 128). All that a person requires is the ability to attend to more engaging matters at will, developing “interest and curiosity to enjoy life for its own sake” (p. 127). Control over one’s attention can be developed in any number of ways, from meditation or prayer to physical activity. “The only way to take over the ownership of life is by learning to direct psychic energy in line with our own intentions” (p. 130).
Know yourself. “An active responsibility for the rest of humankind, and for the world of which we are a part, is a necessary ingredient of a good life” (p. 132). Csikszentmihalyi says the chief obstacle to the good life is our self, particularly the grubbier parts of our self. Artists can transform this grubby part into art, but others can do something with their grubby part too. To start with, the best thing we can do is to know our self well. As our view of our self is often clouded, this might require entering therapy. We can then funnel what we know – even the more difficult parts of our self – into transformative acts, acts or practices that build up rather than tear down.
It is not, in short, as easy as 1-2-3. Csikszentmihalyi writes in passing, “there are no gimmicks, no easy shortcuts. It takes a total commitment to a fully experienced life, one in which no opportunities are left unexplored and no potential undeveloped, to achieve excellence” (p. 115). I am reminded of Spinoza’s belief that “All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare.”
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