The Life Changing Magic of Flow

Have you had the experience where you're working on a project or task and time slips away? You're so into what you're doing that you lose awareness of anything but that. It can feel like "magic focus" and it's productive and fun when it happens! Here's a name for it, it's called flow. My best experience of flow was when I interviewed for my job at Intel in my mid-20's.  I was up for the challenge; I had worked for 6 years (college and graduate school) building up my skills. I also was very motivated; I wanted that job! The balance of skills and challenge, mixed in with strong motivation; is the secret sauce to shape flow experiences. It's also important to remove distractions, alerts, email, interruptions by colleagues can all take us out of our flow state.

The first step towards creating flow experiences is to set time aside and create a physical space where you won't be interrupted. Light a candle, shut the door, leave your phone in another room, and put on some relaxing music.  Creating flow experiences has the double benefit of productivity and self-care.  The description of creating space for flow reminds me of creating space to relax and flow truly is relaxing.

The second step is to ensure you have the skills you need for the task at hand.  Skill building can also be a flow experience. However, if you try to work on a task, you don't have the skills for it (yet) flow will be unlikely.  That's ok, but try to focus on skill building on a regular basis so you can grow your career or contribution and also create more flow in your life.

The third step is to ensure you have enough of a challenge. If you're job isn't presenting enough of a challenge talk to your manager about it. During my second career at Intel, I recalled clearly asking my manager for more of a challenge, something I could own and sink my teeth into. It was so exciting when together we created that experience and my career really took off.

Pay attention to the type of tasks which create flow for you. My daughter recently told me she loves creating decks. She has a lot of knowledge at this point and wants to contribute to her workplace. She has the skills needed. It's challenging to take what she knows and put it down on "paper" and also to creatively communicate with her team. This is why she loves it and will sometimes spend weekend time creating decks because she can find space and time and really sink into the work.

If you want to increase your engagement in life and work, consider how flow might play a part. More flow means more self-care, creativity, fun, and contributions or career growth. Flow truly is a win-win or magic depending on how you look at it.