By Dr Amy Isham, Sustainable Wellbeing Research Group (SWRG), School of Psychology, Swansea University
Do you ever engage with an activity and then realise several hours have gone by? Maybe you’re so engrossed in what you’re doing that you stop thinking about your to-do list? Or that your actions start to feel effortless, as though you’re ‘as one’ with the activity?
When people report these kinds of experiences, often they’ve been in what is called a flow state. Being in flow is highly enjoyable and an important contributor to our mental wellbeing.
And whilst to some, flow may seem like something rare and unusual, it’s very achievable in our day-to-day lives.
So what is flow?
Flow describes a state when we, as individuals, are completely immersed in an activity. The term was coined by Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi who considered it to be a form of optimal experience.
When we are in flow, our level of concentration is so intense that we stop attending to anything not immediately relevant to the activity. This means we can lose track of time, aren’t preoccupied with the judgements of others and experience a merging of action and awareness so our movements feel effortless.
In control and acting freely
Although normally we would need to use a lot of effort to maintain such intense concentration, in a flow state, there is less perceived effort needed to stay focused on the task.
During flow, we feel in control and as though we’re acting freely. We’re engaged in the activity because we want to be, rather than because we’re trying to gain some external reward or are subject to external pressures.
How different people describe it
Below are some descriptions of what different people say it feels like for them to be in flow. Do you ever have similar experiences?
“My mind isn’t wandering. I am not thinking of something else. I am totally involved in what I am doing. My body feels good. I don’t seem to hear anything. The world seems to be cut off from me. I am less aware of myself and my problems.”
“My concentration is like breathing – I never think of it. When I start, I really do shut out the world. I am really quite oblivious to my surroundings after I really get going. I think that the phone could ring, the doorbell could ring or the house could burn down, or something like that. Once I stop, I can let it back in again.”
How flow enhances our wellbeing
When Martin Seligman, one of the founders of positive psychology, proposed his PERMA theory of wellbeing, flow (or engagement, as he called it) was included alongside positive emotions, relationships, meaning and achievement as one of the five elements that can deliver personal wellbeing.
Since then, a whole range of studies have supported flow as an important driver of human wellbeing. We’ve noted that being in flow is highly enjoyable. It provides a momentary escape from our everyday worries.
Interestingly, emerging neuroscientific evidence is showing that, during a flow state, there is reduced activation in brain networks that generate negative arousal. This is in line with the reduction in negative feelings experienced during flow.
But as well as providing in-the-moment wellbeing, frequent feelings of flow have been linked to higher levels of wellbeing even outside of the flow experience itself. Research shows that people who experience flow more often tend to be more satisfied with their lives, experience a greater number of positive feelings and report higher levels of fulfilment.
On top of this, the experience of flow at work, school or during hobbies – such as sports – has been linked to improved performance and higher grades. So another way that flow may enhance our wellbeing is by helping us to feel competent and boosting our self-esteem.
How to find flow
Flow is not something passive that we must wait to happen to us. Flow experiences are actively created by a person when they choose to devote all their attention to the task at hand.
Research has outlined certain factors that can support the achievement of flow. For instance, flow experiences should be more likely to occur when the activity presents enough challenge for people to need to make use of their skills whilst still being able to successfully complete the activity.
The task is not so hard that it becomes frustrating and anxiety-inducing, but also not so easy that it becomes boring. Clear goals can also help to order attention and maintain connection to the task.
Activities that can help you find flow
There are several different types of activities that have been shown to frequently support flow experiences.
Luckily, many of these activities are highly accessible and part of many people’s day-to-day lives. Arts and crafts, exercise, reading or spending time with family: none of these are things that necessarily require lots of money.
Demographics don’t matter
In our own research, we have found that demographic factors have very little role to play in accounting for whether or not people experience flow.
This means that across different age groups, gender and socioeconomic backgrounds, flow experiences are possible.
Good for the planet too
Our research has also found that those activities which appear to be well-equipped to support flow also tend to be environmentally friendly, so we can support our own wellbeing whilst helping to protect the planet too.
The types of activities that our research has found to be highly supportive of flow, whilst also having a low environmental impact include:
- dancing
- reading
- singing
- playing sports
- playing board games
- playing an instrument
- taking part in conversations with friends, neighbours or loved ones.
- praying and meditating
- arts and craft activities
Immerse yourself in what you enjoy
So, to help yourself find flow and, in doing so, support your wellbeing, try to fully engage with your daily activities. Find those things you enjoy and let yourself become completely immersed in them. These intense moments of connection to activities can help to boost our mood and make life meaningful.
References
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1992). Flow: The psychology of happiness. London: Rider.
Isham, A., and Jackson, T. (2022). Finding flow: exploring the potential for sustainable fulfilment. Lancet Planet. Health 6, e66–e74. doi: 10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00286-2
Isham, A., Gatersleben, B., and Jackson, T. (2019). Flow activities as a route to living well with less. Environ. Behav. 51, 431–461. doi: 10.1177/0013916518799826
Isham, A., and Jackson, T. (2023). Whose ‘flow’ is it anyway? The demographic correlates of ‘flow proneness’. Pers. Individ. Differ. 209:112207. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2023.112207
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