What Is the Flow Theory? How to Apply It to Improve Your Productivity

All of us have experienced working on something we thoroughly enjoy. We’re so consumed and absorbed with the task at hand that hours seem like minutes. This phenomenon is called “flow”.

Many people think that enjoyment can only be achieved by doing passive, stress-free, and relaxing activities. However, studies show that you’ll find more joy and thrill by doing challenging tasks that stretch your capabilities and skills to accomplish something worthwhile.

Read more to know what you can do to experience this mental state and be more productive and happy in the midst.

What Is the Flow Theory?

Flow is from a concept pioneered by psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, one of the founders of positive psychology.

In his book, Mihály describes flow as:

“…a state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience is so enjoyable that people will continue to do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.”

When we’re in a state of flow, or what we term now as being “in the zone,” we’re fully immersed in something interesting to us, and we’re so far from becoming tired or bored. Instead, you feel excited, energized, and wholly involved with the process.

It may be fixing a complex math problem or playing some awesome music—whatever it is, you’re fully engaged and absorbed in the activity that you even ignore physical cues like hunger, sleep, thirst, or tiredness.

Flow Theory states that there should be a balance between challenge and skill. Low challenge paired with high skill may lead to apathy, disinterest, boredom, and lack of excitement. On the flip side, very challenging situations that do not match a person’s current skills can lead to anxiety and frustration.

What You Need to Experience Flow

You can experience flow while doing any activity that requires active engagement. However, it’s also crucial that you voluntarily accept the challenge or task you want to achieve. If you want to experience flow, the tasks that you engage in should have the following components:

You must find the activity intrinsically motivating.
The task should have clear goals and directions.
You must find the task challenging but attainable at the same time.
The task should give clear and immediate feedback to allow you to adjust to the changing demands and adjust your performance to rise to the challenge.
You need to have the confidence to complete the task.
You are engaging the task for its own sake.

Eliminate Distractions

Research shows that most people experience flow while at work rather than during leisure time. If you’re an Apple user, you can maximize the Focus feature to create a personalized Focus for a specific task, so your device can ignore unnecessary notifications while you’re in the zone.

On the other hand, Android users can make use of Focus Mode to pause apps to allow them to focus on the task at hand. There are also a handful of apps and extensions to help you focus while working on a difficult task.

Improve Your Current Skills and Capabilities

No matter the task or goal, there’s a high chance that you can find an online content to help you. Online learning platforms like Coursera have a vast range of free and paid courses to help you bring your current skills a notch higher.

You can also look for more niched and sites with a more in-depth focus. For example, eMathZone is excellent for people who want to be pros in basic to higher Mathematics. At the same time, Uplifted Yoga is great for those who wish to enhance their yoga style or earn continuing education credits through their yoga courses.

If learning is something you thoroughly enjoy, why not get a degree instead? Onlinedegree.com matches you with a school based on features that you prefer, while offering you free courses and discounts along the way.

Find a Flow Buddy

Doing the same challenging task with a buddy or a group can make tasks more challenging and engaging.

Habit Share is an app that allows you to share your goals and habits with your friends to boost motivation and accountability. You can schedule reminders and create custom habits that meet your needs. More importantly, you can choose which habits you want to share with others.

Download: Habit Share for iOS | Android (Free)

Set Clearly Defined Goals

Whether it be solving a problem or mastering a new piece, it’s important to have specific goals to achieve flow.

There are a ton of goal-setting apps that can help you set and track your goals to prevent you from getting side-tracked. You can also combine a goal app with a to-do app for more streamlined and detailed goal planning.

Beat Negative Thoughts

Sometimes, the problem is not the skill, but the lack of confidence or the presence of negative thoughts that hinder a person from doing well in a task.

CBD Thought Diary allows you to track your mood and identify common negative thinking patterns like magnifying the negative and jumping to conclusions. Aside from helping you identify negative thinking patterns, it also enables you to analyze and challenge them.

Download: CBD Thought Diary for iOS | Android (Free)

Challenging negative thought patterns allows you to be aware of them when they come so that they no longer hinder you from achieving and doing tasks that matter to you.