Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Thoughts on FLOW

I am  personally very interested in notions of FLOW that have to do with creativity and learning. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi wrote an amazing book that discusses the state of FLOW that people enter when they are working on something to their fullest capability. Everyone knows the feeling: when you are completely in the moment doing some creative activity, playing an instrument, engaged in a deep conversation, etc., when you lose track of time and you feel like you cannot make a mistake. For me, this occurs when playing drums, sketching, and sometimes even when doing very ordinary things, like making a list of things to do.  I have various strategies for entering this very enjoyable, productive state. I would be interested to know if other blog members have similar methods for inducing a state of FLOW.



This video is the author explaining his concept of FLOW. 
 Here is  a passage from Wikipedia:





Csíkszentmihályi identifies the following nine factors as accompanying an experience of flow:[4][5]
  1. Clear goals (expectations and rules are discernible and goals are attainable and align appropriately with one's skill set and abilities). Moreover, the challenge level and skill level should both be high.[3]
  2. Concentrating, a high degree of concentration on a limited field of attention (a person engaged in the activity will have the opportunity to focus and to delve deeply into it).
  3. A loss of the feeling of self-consciousness, the merging of action and awareness.
  4. Distorted sense of time, one's subjective experience of time is altered.
  5. Direct and immediate feedback (successes and failures in the course of the activity are apparent, so that behavior can be adjusted as needed).
  6. Balance between ability level and challenge (the activity is neither too easy nor too difficult).
  7. A sense of personal control over the situation or activity.
  8. The activity is intrinsically rewarding, so there is an effortlessness of action.
  9. People become absorbed in their activity, and focus of awareness is narrowed down to the activity itself, action awareness merging.
Not all are needed for flow to be experienced.



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1 comment:

Ga-Ram Han said...

This was an interesting talk. That graph really helped clarify the different stages in anyone's life; reflecting challenges and skills in order to achieve FLOW. My take away from this talk is that, as students, our interest and control of projects should be high priority, but shouldn't let it restrict you from being so close to a state of FLOW. This is what I often times experienced through Thesis. It was as if anxiety and control was killing my creativity and motivation, as if I had a lasso around my waist keeping me in place. It was once I let go of those fears and my sheer stubbornness, did I start seeing an improvement in my work, my performance, and my enthusiasm, having the chance to experience FLOW. It's a great feeling.

As we are only human, I feel that FLOW shouldn't be something that beats you down either, but rather something challenging, enjoyable and fun; a cluster of emotions that might at times feel foreign, euphoric, but more importantly, rewarding. This is what keeps your motivation levels up. On a side note, I recently read a book, one of the topics talking about perception. It says, "In life, problems and setbacks are mandatory. Misery is optional." We don't see things as THEY are, but rather how we see things as WE are. Take it with a grain of salt if you will, but to me this was quite a strong statement, and felt there is a lot of truth behind it that couldn't be stressed enough.

Anyways, enough with all this jazz. The finish line is close. Let's stay motivated, positive, and finish strong...in a constant state of FLOW.

-G

April 14, 2010 at 11:51 AM

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