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Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life
From the bestselling author of Flow and one of the pioneers of the scientific study of happiness, an indispensable guide to living your best life.
What makes a good life? Is it money? An important job? Leisure time? Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi believes our obsessive focus on such measures has led us astray. Work fills our days with anxiety and pressure, so that during our free time, we tend to live in boredom, absorbed by our screens.
What are we missing? To answer this question, Csikszentmihalyi studied thousands of people, and he found the key. People are happiest when they challenge themselves with tasks that demand a high degree of skill and commitment, and which are undertaken for their own sake. Instead of scrolling on your phone, play the piano. Take a routine chore and figure out how to do it better, faster, more efficiently. In short, learn the hidden power of complete engagement, a psychological state the author calls flow. Though they appear simple, the lessons in Finding Flow are life-changing.
What makes a good life? Is it money? An important job? Leisure time? Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi believes our obsessive focus on such measures has led us astray. Work fills our days with anxiety and pressure, so that during our free time, we tend to live in boredom, absorbed by our screens.
What are we missing? To answer this question, Csikszentmihalyi studied thousands of people, and he found the key. People are happiest when they challenge themselves with tasks that demand a high degree of skill and commitment, and which are undertaken for their own sake. Instead of scrolling on your phone, play the piano. Take a routine chore and figure out how to do it better, faster, more efficiently. In short, learn the hidden power of complete engagement, a psychological state the author calls flow. Though they appear simple, the lessons in Finding Flow are life-changing.
181 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
About the author
Mihály Csíkszentmihályi
87 books2,291 followersA Hungarian psychology professor, who emigrated to the United States at the age of 22. Now at Claremont Graduate University, he is the former head of the department of psychology at the University of Chicago and of the department of sociology and anthropology at Lake Forest College.
He is noted for both his work in the study of happiness and creativity and also for his notoriously difficult name, in terms of pronunciation for non-native speakers of the Hungarian language, but is best known as the architect of the notion of flow and for his years of research and writing on the topic. He is the author of many books and over 120 articles or book chapters. Martin Seligman, former president of the American Psychological Association, described Csikszentmihalyi as the world's leading researcher on positive psychology.
Csikszentmihalyi once said "Repression is not the way to virtue. When people restrain themselves out of fear, their lives are by necessity diminished. Only through freely chosen discipline can life be enjoyed and still kept within the bounds of reason." His works are influential and are widely cited.
He is noted for both his work in the study of happiness and creativity and also for his notoriously difficult name, in terms of pronunciation for non-native speakers of the Hungarian language, but is best known as the architect of the notion of flow and for his years of research and writing on the topic. He is the author of many books and over 120 articles or book chapters. Martin Seligman, former president of the American Psychological Association, described Csikszentmihalyi as the world's leading researcher on positive psychology.
Csikszentmihalyi once said "Repression is not the way to virtue. When people restrain themselves out of fear, their lives are by necessity diminished. Only through freely chosen discipline can life be enjoyed and still kept within the bounds of reason." His works are influential and are widely cited.
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December 18, 2007
Finding Flow is a more engaging and practical view of the ideas Csikzentmihalyi introduces in Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Definitely treading the fine line between good general psychology book and self-help. When I'm feeling in a bit of an existential funk, it's nice to pick this book up and become inspired by the stories and research on 'flow'. It reminds me of what's important to a good life: engagement and challenge that can make time seem to melt away.
February 21, 2024
What is Flow?
In positive psychology, flow, a.k.a. "the zone," is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does, and a resulting loss in one's sense of space and time.
Graph Axes: X = skill (personal ability); Y = challenge (task).
FLOW: High challenge, high skill — "the goal".
Apathy: Low challenge, low skill. — "meh." (A general lack of interest in the task at hand.)
Boredom: Low challenge, high skill — "This is a waste of my time." (If challenges are too low, one gets back to flow by increasing them.)
Anxiety: High challenge, Low skill — E.g., When I play Dark Souls. (If challenges are too great, one can return to the flow state by reducing the challenge or developing new skills.)
8 Characteristics of Flow:
1. confront challenging but completable tasks
2. concentration
3. clear goals
4. immediate feedback
5. deep, effortless involvement (lack of awareness of worries and frustrations)
6. sense of control over actions
7. concern for the self disappears (paradoxically awareness of self is heightened immediately after flow)
8. sense of duration of time is altered
Schaffer (2013) proposed 7 Flow conditions:
1. Knowing what to do
2. Knowing how to do it
3. Knowing how well you are doing
4. Knowing where to go (if navigation is involved)
5. High perceived challenges
6. High perceived skills
7. Freedom from distractions
Finding Flow:
Maintaining the balance between high challenge (activity) and high skill (ability). https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/ar...
Concepts to Remember
• Mihaly Csikszentmihályi is pronounced "Mi-High Cheek-Send-Mi-High." In Hungarian, his name means Michael SaintMichael.
• Why do people today stereotypically think work is a drag? Small children are natural learners—they just suck information out of their environment through curiosity and play. Somewhere along the way, we lose that. We learn that learning is serious business and that it's hard and effortful. That's not true. Learning/work can flow.
• In chapter 4, "The Paradox of Work," Csikszentmihályi shares studies of youth who differentiate between work and play. "Work" is what they say they do in school (typically high challenge, low skill). "Play" is what they call hanging out at recess (low challenge, low skill). We, therefore, learn early on that "play" is better than "work." But it isn't necessarily so.
• The concept of psychic energy, is allocated into different dimensions of activities - leisure (low challenge/skill), work (growth activities), and maintenance (already developed habit loops). Most of us hoard our reservoir of attention carefully. We dole it out only for serious things, for things that matter; we only get interested in whatever will promote our welfare. The objects most worthy of our psychic energy are ourselves and the people and things that will give us some material or emotional advantage. The result is that we don't have much attention left over to participate in the world on its own terms, to be surprised, learn new things, empathize, and grow beyond the limits set by our self-centeredness.
• Flow is an innately positive experience; it is known to "produce intense feelings of enjoyment." An experience that is so enjoyable should lead to positive affect and happiness in the long run. Also, Csikszentmihályi stated that happiness is derived from personal development and growth – and flow situations permit the experience of personal development. Note: people do not feel "happy" while in flow. (They should be in an effortless state, and blissfully unaware of emotion.) "Happiness" is positively correlated with time spent in flow, but after the fact.
• One idea that isn't greatly explored in the book is the possibility that happiness may not be the ultimate pursuit in life as taught in the great philosophical work, Pixar's Inside Out.
• Knowing what makes you enter into a state of flow can be a hint of what your life's calling might be.
• When Csikszentmihályi brought up "Autotelic personalities" in chapter 8, I thought he was describing me. Autotelics are the people who have tons of intrinsic motivation, experience plenty of flow and high self-esteem, and engage and complex and meaningful activities. If there is one quality that distinguishes autotelic individuals, it is that their psychic energy seems inexhaustible. Even though they have no greater attentional capacity than anyone else, they pay more attention to what happens around them, they notice more, and they are willing to invest more attention in things for their own sake without expecting an immediate return. These people cultivate a strong sense of *curiosity* even in mundane tasks. We generally overlook what we're doing at the moment, especially when the task is routine or easy. Autotelicism reminds me of the concept of mindfulness. Instead of trying to construct a perfect, stimulating, ever-positive world around us—which is unrealistic—we would do much better to find new ways to look at things with a renewed sense of wonder, curiosity, and engagement (sometimes called "beginner's mind").
Notable Quotes:
Get off your butt — "To live means to experience—through doing, feeling, thinking. Experience requires time, so time is the ultimate scarce resource we have. Over the years, the content of experience will determine the quality of life. Therefore one of the most essential decisions any of us can make is about how one's time is allocated or invested" (p. 8).
Quality of daily life comes through engaging in challenging work — "Without dreams, without risks, only a trivial semblance of living can be achieved" (p. 22).
Remember this when writing a new book: — "The sacred books... are the best repositories of the ideas that mattered most to our ancestors, and to ignore them is an act of childish conceit. But it is equally naive to believe that whatever was written in the past contains an absolute truth that lasts forever."
What should I seek in life? Happiness? — "It is the full involvement of flow, rather than happiness, that makes for excellence in life. When we are in flow, we are not happy, because to experience happiness we must focus on our inner states, and that would take away attention from the task at hand... Only after the task is completed do we have the leisure to look back on what has happened, and then we are flooded with gratitude for the excellence of that experience—then, in retrospect, we are happy... The happiness that follows flow is of our own making, and it leads to increasing complexity and growth in consciousness" (p. 32).
Seek active leisure activities (requiring mental effort) vs. passive leisure (idling) — "The important thing is to enjoy the activity for its own sake and to know that what matters is not the result, but the control one is acquiring over one's attention" (p. 129).
3rd-Party Executive Summary:
https://alexvermeer.com/finding-flow/
In positive psychology, flow, a.k.a. "the zone," is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does, and a resulting loss in one's sense of space and time.
Graph Axes: X = skill (personal ability); Y = challenge (task).
FLOW: High challenge, high skill — "the goal".
Apathy: Low challenge, low skill. — "meh." (A general lack of interest in the task at hand.)
Boredom: Low challenge, high skill — "This is a waste of my time." (If challenges are too low, one gets back to flow by increasing them.)
Anxiety: High challenge, Low skill — E.g., When I play Dark Souls. (If challenges are too great, one can return to the flow state by reducing the challenge or developing new skills.)
8 Characteristics of Flow:
1. confront challenging but completable tasks
2. concentration
3. clear goals
4. immediate feedback
5. deep, effortless involvement (lack of awareness of worries and frustrations)
6. sense of control over actions
7. concern for the self disappears (paradoxically awareness of self is heightened immediately after flow)
8. sense of duration of time is altered
Schaffer (2013) proposed 7 Flow conditions:
1. Knowing what to do
2. Knowing how to do it
3. Knowing how well you are doing
4. Knowing where to go (if navigation is involved)
5. High perceived challenges
6. High perceived skills
7. Freedom from distractions
Finding Flow:
Maintaining the balance between high challenge (activity) and high skill (ability). https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/ar...
Concepts to Remember
• Mihaly Csikszentmihályi is pronounced "Mi-High Cheek-Send-Mi-High." In Hungarian, his name means Michael SaintMichael.
• Why do people today stereotypically think work is a drag? Small children are natural learners—they just suck information out of their environment through curiosity and play. Somewhere along the way, we lose that. We learn that learning is serious business and that it's hard and effortful. That's not true. Learning/work can flow.
• In chapter 4, "The Paradox of Work," Csikszentmihályi shares studies of youth who differentiate between work and play. "Work" is what they say they do in school (typically high challenge, low skill). "Play" is what they call hanging out at recess (low challenge, low skill). We, therefore, learn early on that "play" is better than "work." But it isn't necessarily so.
• The concept of psychic energy, is allocated into different dimensions of activities - leisure (low challenge/skill), work (growth activities), and maintenance (already developed habit loops). Most of us hoard our reservoir of attention carefully. We dole it out only for serious things, for things that matter; we only get interested in whatever will promote our welfare. The objects most worthy of our psychic energy are ourselves and the people and things that will give us some material or emotional advantage. The result is that we don't have much attention left over to participate in the world on its own terms, to be surprised, learn new things, empathize, and grow beyond the limits set by our self-centeredness.
• Flow is an innately positive experience; it is known to "produce intense feelings of enjoyment." An experience that is so enjoyable should lead to positive affect and happiness in the long run. Also, Csikszentmihályi stated that happiness is derived from personal development and growth – and flow situations permit the experience of personal development. Note: people do not feel "happy" while in flow. (They should be in an effortless state, and blissfully unaware of emotion.) "Happiness" is positively correlated with time spent in flow, but after the fact.
• One idea that isn't greatly explored in the book is the possibility that happiness may not be the ultimate pursuit in life as taught in the great philosophical work, Pixar's Inside Out.
• Knowing what makes you enter into a state of flow can be a hint of what your life's calling might be.
• When Csikszentmihályi brought up "Autotelic personalities" in chapter 8, I thought he was describing me. Autotelics are the people who have tons of intrinsic motivation, experience plenty of flow and high self-esteem, and engage and complex and meaningful activities. If there is one quality that distinguishes autotelic individuals, it is that their psychic energy seems inexhaustible. Even though they have no greater attentional capacity than anyone else, they pay more attention to what happens around them, they notice more, and they are willing to invest more attention in things for their own sake without expecting an immediate return. These people cultivate a strong sense of *curiosity* even in mundane tasks. We generally overlook what we're doing at the moment, especially when the task is routine or easy. Autotelicism reminds me of the concept of mindfulness. Instead of trying to construct a perfect, stimulating, ever-positive world around us—which is unrealistic—we would do much better to find new ways to look at things with a renewed sense of wonder, curiosity, and engagement (sometimes called "beginner's mind").
Notable Quotes:
Get off your butt — "To live means to experience—through doing, feeling, thinking. Experience requires time, so time is the ultimate scarce resource we have. Over the years, the content of experience will determine the quality of life. Therefore one of the most essential decisions any of us can make is about how one's time is allocated or invested" (p. 8).
Quality of daily life comes through engaging in challenging work — "Without dreams, without risks, only a trivial semblance of living can be achieved" (p. 22).
Remember this when writing a new book: — "The sacred books... are the best repositories of the ideas that mattered most to our ancestors, and to ignore them is an act of childish conceit. But it is equally naive to believe that whatever was written in the past contains an absolute truth that lasts forever."
What should I seek in life? Happiness? — "It is the full involvement of flow, rather than happiness, that makes for excellence in life. When we are in flow, we are not happy, because to experience happiness we must focus on our inner states, and that would take away attention from the task at hand... Only after the task is completed do we have the leisure to look back on what has happened, and then we are flooded with gratitude for the excellence of that experience—then, in retrospect, we are happy... The happiness that follows flow is of our own making, and it leads to increasing complexity and growth in consciousness" (p. 32).
Seek active leisure activities (requiring mental effort) vs. passive leisure (idling) — "The important thing is to enjoy the activity for its own sake and to know that what matters is not the result, but the control one is acquiring over one's attention" (p. 129).
3rd-Party Executive Summary:
https://alexvermeer.com/finding-flow/
January 11, 2016
This book skips over any sort of dive into a convincing operational definition of flow. In that respect, if this is all you read about "flow" it feels like there's something missing. I'd suggest starting with a quick pre-reading of a short introduction on the subject - The Handbook of Competence Motivation, Chapter 32 (11 pages). It's not technically free, but (hint hint) a little google search revealed to me that many academics are not so careful about posting PDFs of it in a secure fashion... I'm just sayin.
Anyway, this book IS great if you want some guidance around the role of flow in our everyday lives. The author defines "psychic entropy" as mental disorder, when negative emotions (anxiety, fear, boredom, sadness) prevent us from using attention to effectively deal with external tasks because we are forced to use attention to restore our inner order. "Psychic negentropy" is the opposite, where we can think clearly and use our attention effectively. The influence of motivation is interesting and not entirely intuitive:
The idea of flow and present awareness has significant parallels with Buddhist ideas. One complaint leveled against Buddhism is that many people fear the desireless existence that Buddhists promote, thinking that it means abandoning the motivation to solve our real world problems. Csikszentmihalyi has a brilliant observation on this:
Csikszentmihalyi observes that people tend to be happier when they have significant social contact and depressed when alone.
He anticipates our objections (mine at least, as an introvert) and lets us know that, while it is certainly possible to learn to appreciated solitude, studies show that most people overestimate their ability to tolerate it. Interestingly, those who do not learn to tolerate solitude effectively, such as young ones in families with little emotional support who always surround themselves with friends, tend not to build the capacity for attention and complex learning.
Csikszentmihalyi suggests that we have erred in separating work and leisure in modern society. We tend to think that less work and more leisure is better, yet this doesn't track well with what will provide us greatest happiness. This is due to the fact noted above that intrinsic and extrinsic motivations are better at producing positive mental states than goalless activities. And unfortunately, we often fail to realize that effective leisure isn't "easy," it actually requires quite a bit of skill to be able to effectively pursue leisure activities that provide goals for ourselves which lead to positive mental states. Passive leisure, especially by yourself, which is so common for many of us, often causes us to descend into psychic entropy and negative feelings.
Towards the end of the book, there is a chapter on The Autotelic Personality which describes a personality type (if you will) of those who have oodles of intrinsic motivation, experience plenty of flow and high self esteem, and engage and complex and meaningful activities. These are the self starters out there who seem endlessly curious and with boundless energy.
Now, I don't know if autotelicism is all that useful of a concept. However, I did get something important from this. The traits described here indicate being engaged, attentive, and maintaning forward momentum without self-consciousness. To me this echoes the ideas of mindfulness. Here I think a major key is cultivating a strong sense of *curiosity* even in mundane tasks. We generally overlook what we're doing, especially when the task is routine or easy, and we simply forget to pay attention because, well, we think it's not worth paying attention. We are simply not interested in what we're doing. The message here is that, rather than expecting that we can construct a perfect, stimulating, ever-positive world around us which is unrealistic, we would do much better to find new ways to look at the things with a renewed sense of wonder, curiosity, and engagement (sometimes called "beginner's mind").
Anyway, this book IS great if you want some guidance around the role of flow in our everyday lives. The author defines "psychic entropy" as mental disorder, when negative emotions (anxiety, fear, boredom, sadness) prevent us from using attention to effectively deal with external tasks because we are forced to use attention to restore our inner order. "Psychic negentropy" is the opposite, where we can think clearly and use our attention effectively. The influence of motivation is interesting and not entirely intuitive:
Quite a bit of evidence shows that whereas people feel best when what they do is voluntary, they do not feel worst when what they do is obligatory. Psychic entropy is highest instead when a person feels that what they do is motivated by not having anything else to do. Thus both intrinsic motivation (wanting to do it) and extrinsic motivation (having to do it) are preferable to the state where one acts by default, without having any kind of goal to focus attention.
The idea of flow and present awareness has significant parallels with Buddhist ideas. One complaint leveled against Buddhism is that many people fear the desireless existence that Buddhists promote, thinking that it means abandoning the motivation to solve our real world problems. Csikszentmihalyi has a brilliant observation on this:
...some point out that Eastern religions, such as various forms of Hinduism and Buddhism, prescribe the abolition of intentionality as a prerequisite for happiness. They claim that only by relinquishing every desire, by achieving a goalless existence, can we hope to avoid unhappiness... In my opinion this reading of the Eastern message is rather superficial... Those who expect that by being spontaneous they will avoid setting goals, usually just follow blindly the goals set for them by evolution and education... The true message of the Eastern religions, it seems to me, is not the abolition of all goals. What they tell us is that most intentions formed spontaneously are to be mistrusted... The inertia of the past dictates that most of our goals will be shaped by genetic or by cultural inheritance. It is these goals, the Buddhists tell us, that we must learn to curb... Thus the praxis of the religions of the East is almost the opposite of how it has usually been interpreted in the West.
Csikszentmihalyi observes that people tend to be happier when they have significant social contact and depressed when alone.
Over and over, our findings suggest that people get depressed when they are alone, and they revive when they rejoin the company of others. Alone a person generally reports low happiness, aversive motivation, low concentration, apathy, and an entire string of other negative states such as passivity, loneliness, detachment, and low self-esteem... The reason is that when we have to interact with another person, even a stranger, our attention becomes structured by external demands. The presence of the other imposes goals and provides feedback. Even the simplest interaction - like that of asking another person the correct time - has its own challenges, which we confront with our interpersonal skills.
He anticipates our objections (mine at least, as an introvert) and lets us know that, while it is certainly possible to learn to appreciated solitude, studies show that most people overestimate their ability to tolerate it. Interestingly, those who do not learn to tolerate solitude effectively, such as young ones in families with little emotional support who always surround themselves with friends, tend not to build the capacity for attention and complex learning.
Csikszentmihalyi suggests that we have erred in separating work and leisure in modern society. We tend to think that less work and more leisure is better, yet this doesn't track well with what will provide us greatest happiness. This is due to the fact noted above that intrinsic and extrinsic motivations are better at producing positive mental states than goalless activities. And unfortunately, we often fail to realize that effective leisure isn't "easy," it actually requires quite a bit of skill to be able to effectively pursue leisure activities that provide goals for ourselves which lead to positive mental states. Passive leisure, especially by yourself, which is so common for many of us, often causes us to descend into psychic entropy and negative feelings.
Towards the end of the book, there is a chapter on The Autotelic Personality which describes a personality type (if you will) of those who have oodles of intrinsic motivation, experience plenty of flow and high self esteem, and engage and complex and meaningful activities. These are the self starters out there who seem endlessly curious and with boundless energy.
If there is one quality that distinguishes autotelic individuals, it is that their psychic energy seems inexhaustible. Even though they have no greater attentional capacity than anyone else, they pay more attention to what happens around them, they notice more, and they are willing to invest more attention in things for their own sake without expecting an immediate return. Most of us hoard attention carefully. We dole it out only for serious things, for things that matter; we only get interested in whatever will promote our welfare. The objects most worthy of our psychic energy are ourselves and the people and things that will give us some material or emotional advantage. The result is that we don't have much attention left over to participate in the world on its own terms, to be surprised, to learn new things, to empathize, to grow beyond the limits set by our self-centeredness.
Autotelic persons are less concerned with themselves, and therefore have more free psychic energy to experience life with... the interest of an autotelic person is not entirely passive and contemplative. It also involves an attempt to understand, or... to solve problems.
Now, I don't know if autotelicism is all that useful of a concept. However, I did get something important from this. The traits described here indicate being engaged, attentive, and maintaning forward momentum without self-consciousness. To me this echoes the ideas of mindfulness. Here I think a major key is cultivating a strong sense of *curiosity* even in mundane tasks. We generally overlook what we're doing, especially when the task is routine or easy, and we simply forget to pay attention because, well, we think it's not worth paying attention. We are simply not interested in what we're doing. The message here is that, rather than expecting that we can construct a perfect, stimulating, ever-positive world around us which is unrealistic, we would do much better to find new ways to look at the things with a renewed sense of wonder, curiosity, and engagement (sometimes called "beginner's mind").
December 22, 2010
This book is about gratifying work, which is the basis for a truly satisfying life. I've heard most of these ideas before, and experienced them firsthand during an intensive writing retreat I set up for myself, but this spells out how it works in theory and detail.
High points:
- People feel good when they do something they want to do, bad when they do something they think they have to do, and worst when they do something because they can't think of anything else to do. Being goalless or directionless is the most unpleasant state.
- When you like something, you can concentrate on it easily, even if the task itself is objectively difficult.
- Flow experience: requires concentration; is challenging but a good match for your skills; provides immediate feedback; represents a harmony between what you feel, want, and think. You get "in the zone" and lose awareness of everything but what you're doing. This is that makes a truly satisfying life.
- We often pass up flow opportunities to sit on our asses instead, because it requires less energy. We're choosing less happiness when we do so.
I agree with nearly everything in this book, but there are two big assumptions he takes as givens that don't match my reality: women are primarily responsible for cooking, cleaning, and house maintenance; and people are uncomfortable/bored/edgy when alone. He must be writing for old-fashioned extroverts? Or maybe most of society still is this way?
Quotes:
"[To live] must mean to live in fullness, without waste of time and potential, expressing one's uniqueness, yet participating intimately in the complexity of the cosmos." (2)
"To live means to experience--through doing, feeling, thinking. Experience takes place in time, so time is the ultimate scarce resource we have. Over the years, the content of experience will determine the quality of life. Therefore one of the most essential decisions any of us can make is about how one's time is allocated or invested." (8)
"Without dreams, without risks, only a trivial semblance of living can be achieved." (22)
"It is the full involvement of flow, rather than happiness, that makes for excellence in life. When we are in flow, we are not happy, because to experience happiness we must focus on our inner states, and that would take away attention from the task at hand... Only after the task is completed do we have the leisure to look back on what has happened, and then we are flooded with gratitude for the excellence of that experience--then, in retrospect, we are happy... The happiness that follows flow is of our own making, and it leads to increasing complexity and growth in consciousness." (32)
"In an ideal situation, a person would be constantly growing while enjoying whatever he or she did." (33)
"The important thing is to enjoy the activity for its own sake, and to know that what matters is not the result, but the control one is acquiring over one's attention." (129)
High points:
- People feel good when they do something they want to do, bad when they do something they think they have to do, and worst when they do something because they can't think of anything else to do. Being goalless or directionless is the most unpleasant state.
- When you like something, you can concentrate on it easily, even if the task itself is objectively difficult.
- Flow experience: requires concentration; is challenging but a good match for your skills; provides immediate feedback; represents a harmony between what you feel, want, and think. You get "in the zone" and lose awareness of everything but what you're doing. This is that makes a truly satisfying life.
- We often pass up flow opportunities to sit on our asses instead, because it requires less energy. We're choosing less happiness when we do so.
I agree with nearly everything in this book, but there are two big assumptions he takes as givens that don't match my reality: women are primarily responsible for cooking, cleaning, and house maintenance; and people are uncomfortable/bored/edgy when alone. He must be writing for old-fashioned extroverts? Or maybe most of society still is this way?
Quotes:
"[To live] must mean to live in fullness, without waste of time and potential, expressing one's uniqueness, yet participating intimately in the complexity of the cosmos." (2)
"To live means to experience--through doing, feeling, thinking. Experience takes place in time, so time is the ultimate scarce resource we have. Over the years, the content of experience will determine the quality of life. Therefore one of the most essential decisions any of us can make is about how one's time is allocated or invested." (8)
"Without dreams, without risks, only a trivial semblance of living can be achieved." (22)
"It is the full involvement of flow, rather than happiness, that makes for excellence in life. When we are in flow, we are not happy, because to experience happiness we must focus on our inner states, and that would take away attention from the task at hand... Only after the task is completed do we have the leisure to look back on what has happened, and then we are flooded with gratitude for the excellence of that experience--then, in retrospect, we are happy... The happiness that follows flow is of our own making, and it leads to increasing complexity and growth in consciousness." (32)
"In an ideal situation, a person would be constantly growing while enjoying whatever he or she did." (33)
"The important thing is to enjoy the activity for its own sake, and to know that what matters is not the result, but the control one is acquiring over one's attention." (129)
May 17, 2020
Am mai recomandat cartea la podcastul Vocea nației, dar vreau să revin la ea pentru că am recomandat-o câtorva oameni săptămâna asta. Mă întrebau acești tineri cum pot să facă și ei să reușească în viață. Și dintre toate cărțile bune care încearcă diverse răspunsuri la această întrebare, lucrarea lui Csikszentmihalyi mi se pare cea mai bună. Asta pentru că vorbește (la fel cum fac Carol Dweck în Mindset și Angela Duckworth în Grit) despre starea în care trebuie să ajungi pentru a reuși.
Csikszentmihalyi vorbește despre starea de flux în care ajung oamenii care fac ceea ce le place și oferă exemple nenumărate. De fapt, autorul face o diferență clară între plăcere și bucurie, unde plăcerea este să bagi o șaorma cu de toate, iar bucuria este să te apuci să gătești un fel de mâncare despre care habar nu ai cum se face.
Pentru a trai o viata misto, spune autorul, încearca să nu fii influențat de tot felul de recompense externe și de opinia celorlalți. Astea aduc o simplă plăcere. Pentru a ajunge la bucurie, trebuie să cauți starea de flux. Asta înseamnă să cauți ceva ce îți place și să te scufunzi efectiv în activitatea respectivă. Fii concentrat, conștient de mediul în care trăiești, având o familie ok, prieteni buni și o comunitate sănătoasă, în care te implici (aici, e ceva mai greu la noi, nu?). Nu evita provocările dificile, pentru că doar ele pot duce la creștere și realizări.
Csikszentmihalyi vorbește despre starea de flux în care ajung oamenii care fac ceea ce le place și oferă exemple nenumărate. De fapt, autorul face o diferență clară între plăcere și bucurie, unde plăcerea este să bagi o șaorma cu de toate, iar bucuria este să te apuci să gătești un fel de mâncare despre care habar nu ai cum se face.
Pentru a trai o viata misto, spune autorul, încearca să nu fii influențat de tot felul de recompense externe și de opinia celorlalți. Astea aduc o simplă plăcere. Pentru a ajunge la bucurie, trebuie să cauți starea de flux. Asta înseamnă să cauți ceva ce îți place și să te scufunzi efectiv în activitatea respectivă. Fii concentrat, conștient de mediul în care trăiești, având o familie ok, prieteni buni și o comunitate sănătoasă, în care te implici (aici, e ceva mai greu la noi, nu?). Nu evita provocările dificile, pentru că doar ele pot duce la creștere și realizări.
July 19, 2012
A quick, yet informative read on the psychology behind "Flow," or being in a focused state where one is immersed in a rewarding pursuit, which is a more quantifiable and desirable state than the generic and often fleeting state we call "happiness."
This book also offered interesting insights into achieving the desired "Flow" in relationships and family units. It confirmed some of my rationale for why being an entrepreneur is extremely fulfilling at times, and gave practical suggestions for how to find meaning, enjoyment and enthusiasm in the mundane tasks that consume much of our time. The differences between active and passive leisure time are worth noting, and should result in the change of several habits, especially the excessive amounts of television I watch when I'm exhausted.
Highly recommended. You'll need a highlighter and a notebook for this one, and I suspect to reread selected passages throughout my life. I only wish it gave more tips on how to further my ambitions as a freestyle rapper.
This book also offered interesting insights into achieving the desired "Flow" in relationships and family units. It confirmed some of my rationale for why being an entrepreneur is extremely fulfilling at times, and gave practical suggestions for how to find meaning, enjoyment and enthusiasm in the mundane tasks that consume much of our time. The differences between active and passive leisure time are worth noting, and should result in the change of several habits, especially the excessive amounts of television I watch when I'm exhausted.
Highly recommended. You'll need a highlighter and a notebook for this one, and I suspect to reread selected passages throughout my life. I only wish it gave more tips on how to further my ambitions as a freestyle rapper.
September 9, 2019
Flows well.
“It is how we choose what we do, and how we approach it, that will determine whether the sum of our days adds up to a formless blur, or to something resembling a work of art.”
I'll be honest—I thought I was reading Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. This one seems to be a follow up and is shorter than Mihaly's first book on Flow.
Still enjoyable, yet looking forward to the extended version.
“To pursue mental operations to any depth, a person has to learn to concentrate attention. Without focus, consciousness is in a state of chaos.”
“It is how we choose what we do, and how we approach it, that will determine whether the sum of our days adds up to a formless blur, or to something resembling a work of art.”
I'll be honest—I thought I was reading Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. This one seems to be a follow up and is shorter than Mihaly's first book on Flow.
Still enjoyable, yet looking forward to the extended version.
“To pursue mental operations to any depth, a person has to learn to concentrate attention. Without focus, consciousness is in a state of chaos.”
May 18, 2012
The more I read about psychology, the more I wonder how people can't smell the snake oil. I'm in a management development program and Csikszentmihalyi's work was recommended. Perhaps I got the wrong one. This was certainly a load of rubbish.
Opinions as fact, conclusions tailored to support the thesis, odd references to ESP and spirituality, the only thing I can recommend is he has a really cool name.
I pulled the thread on a few of the topics and felt my skin crawl reading up on "psychic entropy." I studied thermodynamics and can only feel sadness if these guys have to borrow terms from real science to legitimize the flimsiness of theirs.
Habitual readers of self-help tripe might like this book. Nuff said.
Opinions as fact, conclusions tailored to support the thesis, odd references to ESP and spirituality, the only thing I can recommend is he has a really cool name.
I pulled the thread on a few of the topics and felt my skin crawl reading up on "psychic entropy." I studied thermodynamics and can only feel sadness if these guys have to borrow terms from real science to legitimize the flimsiness of theirs.
Habitual readers of self-help tripe might like this book. Nuff said.
October 16, 2012
I planned to take notes as I read. However, as I progress through the book I realized the information supported, if not duplicated, what I had read in Csikszenmihalyi’s Flow, The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Most of the writing in this book offered very little new information. Taking notes wasn’t worth the time.
The end of the book included writing about our place in the big picture of all people, and I don’t remember that from the original book.
It is interesting that we can’t be completely within our own flow or to be completely selfish because then the species would die. Also, it’s interesting to think of the flow experience from a group perspective.
I saw this group flow phenomenon in action during a Pearl Jam Philadelphia 2005 show, and it amazed me. It occurred during the song, Alive. The fans on the floor all chanted the same non-lyric sounds at the same time, and moved their arms to support the chant at the same time as if the movements had been choreographed for years. For those dedicated to the group experience, it was easier to think of the concert in terms of we.
Would I read it again: No
Would I recommend it: No
Was prose elevated to poetry: No
The end of the book included writing about our place in the big picture of all people, and I don’t remember that from the original book.
It is interesting that we can’t be completely within our own flow or to be completely selfish because then the species would die. Also, it’s interesting to think of the flow experience from a group perspective.
I saw this group flow phenomenon in action during a Pearl Jam Philadelphia 2005 show, and it amazed me. It occurred during the song, Alive. The fans on the floor all chanted the same non-lyric sounds at the same time, and moved their arms to support the chant at the same time as if the movements had been choreographed for years. For those dedicated to the group experience, it was easier to think of the concert in terms of we.
Would I read it again: No
Would I recommend it: No
Was prose elevated to poetry: No
October 17, 2022
MEH lol...
Honestly I didn't really get anything from this book. It was a lot of yatta yatta yatta. I found it wasn't really about anything, it trailed off and was so boring. The only thing is to find flow in what you do because it makes you happy lol *shrug
Honestly I didn't really get anything from this book. It was a lot of yatta yatta yatta. I found it wasn't really about anything, it trailed off and was so boring. The only thing is to find flow in what you do because it makes you happy lol *shrug
January 2, 2017
I couldn't even make it through this book. A lot of text is spent stating the obvious; humans enjoy participating in activity with visible results. What an elitist to boot!
June 29, 2012
Finding Flow had all the makings of an amazing read. It had the inspiring psychological phenomenon, the self-help practicality, and a sturdy foundation of scientific research. But somewhere in the mix, Finding Flow falls short in my book. (a book within a book; literary infinity shot anyone?) Do not get me wrong, the phenomenon of “Flow State“ is fascinating and Mihaly is indeed the leading expert on it. Reading about it did inspire me to think about my life in different terms and to apply some changes. However, the book was not what I would call a fun read. It lacked a certain zest and personality. Either that or Mihaly lacked it. Though I believe Mihaly has applied the concept of flow to his life, he did not convey this at all. The entire book I kept waiting for the author to open up, and to share some of his insights and struggles with achieving flow state in his own life. But alas, he remained distant and seemingly uninvested. Some may prefer this form of writing when discussing something “scientific,“ but it makes for a stale read. I was also somewhat dismayed that there were no bulleted tips or concluding recaps of the relevant information in each chapter. This would have been very helpful. I may take a stab at his original, more definitive text on the subject, “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience.“ It is a lengthier read, but it may contain some juicier bits. Overall this book is far from terrible and flow state is worth reading about for any person, however you may want to start with Mihaly's other works.
July 1, 2009
Main message: don't be lazy and sit in front of the TV all day--be involved with life. Live. Be engaged with what you do, and do things that you like. I read this a chunk at a time, so it took forever, but I enjoyed thinking about the ideas presented.
Interesting thoughts on work and leisure time: we don't know how to handle our leisure time (an idea I find intriguing) and even in the most mundane job we can still be fulfilled.
"Contemporary life, however, is not very suitable for sustaining friendships...Lack of true friends is often the main complaint of people confronting an emotional crisis in the second half of life." p88
"We are resilient creatures, and apparently we are able to avoid feeling sad even when all the conditions suggest otherwise...It is not enough to be happy to have an excellent life. The point is to be happy while doing things that stretch our skills, that help us grow and fulfill our potential." p122
Interesting thoughts on work and leisure time: we don't know how to handle our leisure time (an idea I find intriguing) and even in the most mundane job we can still be fulfilled.
"Contemporary life, however, is not very suitable for sustaining friendships...Lack of true friends is often the main complaint of people confronting an emotional crisis in the second half of life." p88
"We are resilient creatures, and apparently we are able to avoid feeling sad even when all the conditions suggest otherwise...It is not enough to be happy to have an excellent life. The point is to be happy while doing things that stretch our skills, that help us grow and fulfill our potential." p122
October 1, 2020
Great read!
I had flow all month!
3.8/5
I had flow all month!
3.8/5
April 18, 2021
"A typical day is full of anxiety and boredom. Flow experiences provide the flashes of intense living against this dull background."
Author Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is a Hungarian-American psychologist. He is the Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Management at Claremont Graduate University. He was the former head of the department of psychology at the University of Chicago and of the department of sociology and anthropology at Lake Forest College.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi:
(please don't ask me to pronounce his name)
The concept of flow is an interesting one. If you've ever become lost in a book, a song, rode a bike, or played a musical instrument, you will have likely experienced flow. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is recognized as naming the psychological concept of flow, which can be roughly defined as a highly focused mental state conducive to productivity.
Csikszentmihalyi's writing here is decent; he approaches the topics covered here with thoughtful analysis. Flow has detailed writing on many philosophical and existential topics, and Csikszentmihalyi cites empirical data to help make the case he lays out here.
Although the book is titled Flow, many related concepts are also covered in these pages. Among them:
* The concept of "work".
* Work vs. pleasure.
* Contentment and happiness in life.
* Relationships and the quality of life.
* How flow relates to happiness.
* Using flow to reduce personal and societal entropy.
Csikszentmihalyi talks about flow and leisure here:
Flow was an interesting short read that I enjoyed. I would recommend it to anyone interested.
4 stars.
Author Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is a Hungarian-American psychologist. He is the Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Management at Claremont Graduate University. He was the former head of the department of psychology at the University of Chicago and of the department of sociology and anthropology at Lake Forest College.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi:
(please don't ask me to pronounce his name)
The concept of flow is an interesting one. If you've ever become lost in a book, a song, rode a bike, or played a musical instrument, you will have likely experienced flow. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is recognized as naming the psychological concept of flow, which can be roughly defined as a highly focused mental state conducive to productivity.
Csikszentmihalyi's writing here is decent; he approaches the topics covered here with thoughtful analysis. Flow has detailed writing on many philosophical and existential topics, and Csikszentmihalyi cites empirical data to help make the case he lays out here.
Although the book is titled Flow, many related concepts are also covered in these pages. Among them:
* The concept of "work".
* Work vs. pleasure.
* Contentment and happiness in life.
* Relationships and the quality of life.
* How flow relates to happiness.
* Using flow to reduce personal and societal entropy.
Csikszentmihalyi talks about flow and leisure here:
"It is not that relaxing is bad. Everyone needs time to unwind, to read trashy novels, to sit on the couch staring in space or watching a TV program. As with the other ingredients of life, what matters is the dosage. Passive leisure becomes a problem when a person uses it as the principal-or the only-strategy to fill up free time. As these patterns turn into habits, they begin to have definite effects on the quality of life as a whole. Those who learn to rely on gambling to pass the time, for instance, may find themselves caught in a habit that interferes with their job, their family, and eventually with their own wellbeing. People who view television more often than the average tend also to have worse jobs and worse relationships. In a large-scale study in Germany, it was found that the more often people report reading books, the more flow experiences they claim to have, while the opposite trend was found for watching television. The most flow was reported by individuals who read a lot and watched little TV, the least by those who read seldom and watched often."
Flow was an interesting short read that I enjoyed. I would recommend it to anyone interested.
4 stars.
February 16, 2019
Certainly interesting, somewhat helpful and a bit dated. Not exactly what I was looking for- which I realize now, is something a bit more practical. I'm also not entirely sure what to make of this concept of 'psychic energy' Csikszentmihalyi keeps talking about. Maybe I should have gone with his first book... Still, it was 5 hours well spent.
"In principle any skill or discipline one can master on one’s own will serve: meditation and prayer if one is so inclined; exercise, aerobics, martial arts for those who prefer concentrating on physical skills. Any specialization or expertise that one finds enjoyable and where one can improve one’s knowledge over time. The important thing, however, is the attitude toward these disciplines. If one prays in order to be holy, or exercises to develop strong pectoral muscles, or learns to be knowledgeable, then a great deal of the benefit is lost. The important thing is to enjoy the activity for its own sake, and to know that what matters is not the result, but the control one is acquiring over one’s attention.”
Also, I wish you could rate books out of a possible score of 100. Id give it 3.5ish stars if I could
"In principle any skill or discipline one can master on one’s own will serve: meditation and prayer if one is so inclined; exercise, aerobics, martial arts for those who prefer concentrating on physical skills. Any specialization or expertise that one finds enjoyable and where one can improve one’s knowledge over time. The important thing, however, is the attitude toward these disciplines. If one prays in order to be holy, or exercises to develop strong pectoral muscles, or learns to be knowledgeable, then a great deal of the benefit is lost. The important thing is to enjoy the activity for its own sake, and to know that what matters is not the result, but the control one is acquiring over one’s attention.”
Also, I wish you could rate books out of a possible score of 100. Id give it 3.5ish stars if I could
February 24, 2018
What do you choose to invest your physic energy in? Those who find fulfillment in everyday life have learned how to achieve Flow independent of the task performed.
What one focuses on-be it a future goal or past trauma can shape the thoughts that create happiness. The less one focuses on self/ego the more feelings of happiness or flow they can find.
Flow also is in harmony with the universe. One who finds pleasure in harming others or through negative worldly acts ultimately doesn’t truly have flow.
What one focuses on-be it a future goal or past trauma can shape the thoughts that create happiness. The less one focuses on self/ego the more feelings of happiness or flow they can find.
Flow also is in harmony with the universe. One who finds pleasure in harming others or through negative worldly acts ultimately doesn’t truly have flow.
June 30, 2021
I feel like the galaxy brain meme after reading this. Highly recommend
September 5, 2021
Great book with added bonus of not stretching its ideas to 500+ pages with vaguely relevant “case stories”.
Note for my future self lurking through the “read” shelf when inevitably I’ll forget the gist of the book:
To engage better with life be interested in everything, pay attention, do things for the sake of doing things, socialize and take ownership of your actions. Oh and pursue active leisure rather than passive one.
Note for my future self lurking through the “read” shelf when inevitably I’ll forget the gist of the book:
To engage better with life be interested in everything, pay attention, do things for the sake of doing things, socialize and take ownership of your actions. Oh and pursue active leisure rather than passive one.
July 18, 2023
It’s a good book! I first knew about it when I read Drive by Dan Pink.
It mixes philosophy and psychology in a way I haven’t seen before, and it is way less self-help than I imagined which makes it all the better!
The missed (half) star is that it didn’t really feel like it came to a conclusion. I have always asked “what now?” At the end of everything unfortunately this book left me hanging.
It mixes philosophy and psychology in a way I haven’t seen before, and it is way less self-help than I imagined which makes it all the better!
The missed (half) star is that it didn’t really feel like it came to a conclusion. I have always asked “what now?” At the end of everything unfortunately this book left me hanging.
March 29, 2016
In which Csikszentmihalyi aims to give us a sort of practical application of his seminal book/theory Flow so it can be used by the people who baulked at the scientific underpinning of that 1990 work. In part I can understand this: I have actually stopped recommending Flow to people, because I have had quite a few people pike out on it early because it's not written in what we might term "self-help" style. They are looking for a different type of book, although the information imparted within is often precisely what they're after. Here, however, is a shorter and "more practical" 1997 retread which goes over the main areas.
Essentially we come back into the idea of the curation of the present (living this present moment fully) with an eye on the future and an understanding of the past. The better we know ourselves and channel ourselves towards the activities we love, then the more flow we will experience. In fact, a point not explicitly made by the author is that Flow only rarely happens by mistake. That is, while we could conceivably come across those happy one-offs, they often lose that frisson the second time around. The secret to sustained flow is to keep improving at whatever the activity might happen to be. To take ownership of what the action is, and of the way we get better at it.
There's a slightly Calvinist/Orwellian "learn to love what we do" sub-theme, but then this is actually sound advice that needs to be combined with a "don't stick to a job you hate" attitude. In other words, try to find the things to love in whatever activity you have given yourself up to, and if it still doesn't do it for you, then move on to something else and start again. The more you have tried to love the job/activity, the easier it will be to find another one.
Oh, and talk to people, ask them questions and listen to their answers. Learn ways of seeing the world you hadn't necessarily considered. Share moments with friends. Broaden that worldview. Read books for the same reason. Such as this one; although there is much more in the original if you're willing to give yourself up to it.
Essentially we come back into the idea of the curation of the present (living this present moment fully) with an eye on the future and an understanding of the past. The better we know ourselves and channel ourselves towards the activities we love, then the more flow we will experience. In fact, a point not explicitly made by the author is that Flow only rarely happens by mistake. That is, while we could conceivably come across those happy one-offs, they often lose that frisson the second time around. The secret to sustained flow is to keep improving at whatever the activity might happen to be. To take ownership of what the action is, and of the way we get better at it.
There's a slightly Calvinist/Orwellian "learn to love what we do" sub-theme, but then this is actually sound advice that needs to be combined with a "don't stick to a job you hate" attitude. In other words, try to find the things to love in whatever activity you have given yourself up to, and if it still doesn't do it for you, then move on to something else and start again. The more you have tried to love the job/activity, the easier it will be to find another one.
Oh, and talk to people, ask them questions and listen to their answers. Learn ways of seeing the world you hadn't necessarily considered. Share moments with friends. Broaden that worldview. Read books for the same reason. Such as this one; although there is much more in the original if you're willing to give yourself up to it.
January 13, 2024
Girl I gotta be better at DNFing
September 19, 2014
Some interesting ideas can be noted on this book:
- Happiness might not be a good measure of a good life. You can see the same patterns throughout cultures, even if there are radical differences between two persons' routines.
- The concept of psychic energy which is allocated into different dimensions of activities - leisure, work, and maintenance.
- The concept of the state of flow - when we find ourselves lost in time and really engaged with something. Flow can happen when a couple of conditions are reached: the task demands lots of skill and poses a significant challenge; there is a clear goal (defined with mindfulness); the task provides immediate feedback. When achieving this state, attention becomes ordered and fully invested.
- It is important to consider other people in order to live a good life. The self-centered paradigm can barren our perception on that matter.
- Being mindful of what you are doing and acknowledging your own resposibility for what happens in your life are necessary conditions to have a good life.
Knowing what makes you enter in a state of flow can be a hint of what you should be doing. The book is finished with an interesting remark: what you do with your life can reverberate - in a good or bad way - throughout the times. It seems to me that this can be faced as the eternal life promised by some religions...
- Happiness might not be a good measure of a good life. You can see the same patterns throughout cultures, even if there are radical differences between two persons' routines.
- The concept of psychic energy which is allocated into different dimensions of activities - leisure, work, and maintenance.
- The concept of the state of flow - when we find ourselves lost in time and really engaged with something. Flow can happen when a couple of conditions are reached: the task demands lots of skill and poses a significant challenge; there is a clear goal (defined with mindfulness); the task provides immediate feedback. When achieving this state, attention becomes ordered and fully invested.
- It is important to consider other people in order to live a good life. The self-centered paradigm can barren our perception on that matter.
- Being mindful of what you are doing and acknowledging your own resposibility for what happens in your life are necessary conditions to have a good life.
Knowing what makes you enter in a state of flow can be a hint of what you should be doing. The book is finished with an interesting remark: what you do with your life can reverberate - in a good or bad way - throughout the times. It seems to me that this can be faced as the eternal life promised by some religions...
August 18, 2021
Learn how to Get to The Optimal State from the Psychology Classic, the Outstanding Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
10 out of 10
Monty Python and Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi have in common the fact that they make people happy, the former with some of the best comedies ever, as in The Life of Brian is a candidate for the number One spot, and the latter with the Secrets that can Bring you to the top, reach the Zenith, the Peaks of Camelot, for the psychologist writer, climber and chess player has been studying for decades Flow…
There is another aspect that made me put Monty Python, the best comedy team ever, and Flow in the same context, and that is the scene in The Life of Brian https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n3LL... where the hero is trying to escape, finds himself in the market place and when he tries to buy something, he asks the price, is ready to accept, only to find the seller outraged for ‘we’re supposed to haggle’ and then follows one of the most hilarious scenes one can imagine, for the buyer is willing to accept the offer (for he is worried by the Romans, fast on his tracks)
Only the merchant is not pleased, on the contrary, he is upset and so is Burt, brought in to show support, and the seller is showing Brian the game, how to reject the first price, with offense and lowering the price considerably, only to hear ‘Ten-Are you trying to insult me…Me -With a poor dying grandmother...Ten’ and the show goes on, with an extraordinary script, which made me think of something from Flow…
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi mentions something he has witnessed, when an American client entered a real shop, asked the price and offered to pay right away, only to be refused and when the psychologist asked the shop owner why he would refuse a transaction that was so simple and easy, the man said that he does not want this kind of commerce, he needs to be challenged, he wants to negotiate over the goods and their price, which brings us to one of the conditions of Flow, which is challenges meet expectations.
Contrary to what some, maybe most people expect, we are not experiencing a Peak, reach the Zenith when we just sit on the couch, in front of the television, but when we are challenged, Immersed in an activity that demands all our attention, to the point where one other condition for reaching The Optimal State is that All Else disappears from our radar, we are involved in that activity so much that we forget all else…
As the author says, when climbing on a mountain side, one is concentrated on the rock, the next support, and does not worry about having ravioli later tonight…incidentally, rock climbing is one of the demanding occupations that are prone to Flow and so is surgery…I remember the explanation given - the surgeon coming out of a difficult operation (surgery to remove a nail is important, but it tends to be the difficult task that bring such rewards) and saying let us have lunch, for we must be hungry, only to be told that it is already evening…
So this is something else that happens when one is In The Zone, time loses rigidity, it becomes fluid and changing…a ballerina will be on the stage for one minute or less, but it will feel like days, or infinity…another feature of Flow is that one is In Control and one way to do that is to set Goals (by the way, establishing concordant goals…I am thinking now of the Imagine The Best Possible Future Endeavor coupled with the Use Humor enterprise as in…What Best Possible Future do you mean, with Climate Change and all, there is nothing to expect but Calamity, deserts and water levels rising…then look at Afghanistan and the Fall of Kabul yesterday, ergo the whole country in the hands of the Ultimate Savages…the Taliban
On the other hand, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi speaks in the many lectures you can find on YouTube and surely elsewhere about the effects of adversity on people, giving the example of Winston Churchill (the one he calls the leader of the Western World in the most difficult period) and other great leaders, athletes who have had a very hard childhood…Harvard Professor Tal Ben Shahar speaks of the need to ‘Learn to Fail or Fail to Learn”, the fact that Edison had tried 10,000 versions before finding the secret for the bulb…hence, maybe there will be so many success stories coming out of Kandahar, if the Taliban do not kill everyone there…well, there was on BBC saying that they are reasonable…
As long as there is none of that decadent music, it will be all right…thieves will have hands cut off, adulterers will be executed, and stoning and other such punishments provided by the Koran will be enforced, but what of that…Days of Wine and Roses, maybe even competitions for Flow and Optimum Experience, although this will probably fall under corrupt Western science, which is equated by these barbarians with Satan’s work…
There are challenges there, that is a sure thing…on the issue of challenges and skills, there are some good examples, such when one is playing tennis, or something else and one is bored to death and ultimately annoyed and abandons a game with an opponent that is much weaker and similarly, he or she or they (we have to think of non-binary, pansexual, transgender, no gender and other categories) feels overwhelmed when set against someone who is so much better that any effort is futile and ludicrous, balls are thrown outside the park, when they are reached, which is seldom and the perfect balance is reached when one is facing the exact Aristotelian Golden Mean, between the two extremes…
Mobile phones are a huge challenge in an era when attention spans are set at about two seconds, as Bill Maher joked the other day, and people are constantly checking their screens and ergo it seems impossible to find the state where one forgets all else and reaches Flow, but Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi says we can bring Optimal Experience into everyday tasks, such as washing our teeth, driving to work, with goals, being one with the car and other methods which you find reading his classic, listening to him explain it on YouTube and in other places on the net…
10 out of 10
Monty Python and Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi have in common the fact that they make people happy, the former with some of the best comedies ever, as in The Life of Brian is a candidate for the number One spot, and the latter with the Secrets that can Bring you to the top, reach the Zenith, the Peaks of Camelot, for the psychologist writer, climber and chess player has been studying for decades Flow…
There is another aspect that made me put Monty Python, the best comedy team ever, and Flow in the same context, and that is the scene in The Life of Brian https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n3LL... where the hero is trying to escape, finds himself in the market place and when he tries to buy something, he asks the price, is ready to accept, only to find the seller outraged for ‘we’re supposed to haggle’ and then follows one of the most hilarious scenes one can imagine, for the buyer is willing to accept the offer (for he is worried by the Romans, fast on his tracks)
Only the merchant is not pleased, on the contrary, he is upset and so is Burt, brought in to show support, and the seller is showing Brian the game, how to reject the first price, with offense and lowering the price considerably, only to hear ‘Ten-Are you trying to insult me…Me -With a poor dying grandmother...Ten’ and the show goes on, with an extraordinary script, which made me think of something from Flow…
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi mentions something he has witnessed, when an American client entered a real shop, asked the price and offered to pay right away, only to be refused and when the psychologist asked the shop owner why he would refuse a transaction that was so simple and easy, the man said that he does not want this kind of commerce, he needs to be challenged, he wants to negotiate over the goods and their price, which brings us to one of the conditions of Flow, which is challenges meet expectations.
Contrary to what some, maybe most people expect, we are not experiencing a Peak, reach the Zenith when we just sit on the couch, in front of the television, but when we are challenged, Immersed in an activity that demands all our attention, to the point where one other condition for reaching The Optimal State is that All Else disappears from our radar, we are involved in that activity so much that we forget all else…
As the author says, when climbing on a mountain side, one is concentrated on the rock, the next support, and does not worry about having ravioli later tonight…incidentally, rock climbing is one of the demanding occupations that are prone to Flow and so is surgery…I remember the explanation given - the surgeon coming out of a difficult operation (surgery to remove a nail is important, but it tends to be the difficult task that bring such rewards) and saying let us have lunch, for we must be hungry, only to be told that it is already evening…
So this is something else that happens when one is In The Zone, time loses rigidity, it becomes fluid and changing…a ballerina will be on the stage for one minute or less, but it will feel like days, or infinity…another feature of Flow is that one is In Control and one way to do that is to set Goals (by the way, establishing concordant goals…I am thinking now of the Imagine The Best Possible Future Endeavor coupled with the Use Humor enterprise as in…What Best Possible Future do you mean, with Climate Change and all, there is nothing to expect but Calamity, deserts and water levels rising…then look at Afghanistan and the Fall of Kabul yesterday, ergo the whole country in the hands of the Ultimate Savages…the Taliban
On the other hand, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi speaks in the many lectures you can find on YouTube and surely elsewhere about the effects of adversity on people, giving the example of Winston Churchill (the one he calls the leader of the Western World in the most difficult period) and other great leaders, athletes who have had a very hard childhood…Harvard Professor Tal Ben Shahar speaks of the need to ‘Learn to Fail or Fail to Learn”, the fact that Edison had tried 10,000 versions before finding the secret for the bulb…hence, maybe there will be so many success stories coming out of Kandahar, if the Taliban do not kill everyone there…well, there was on BBC saying that they are reasonable…
As long as there is none of that decadent music, it will be all right…thieves will have hands cut off, adulterers will be executed, and stoning and other such punishments provided by the Koran will be enforced, but what of that…Days of Wine and Roses, maybe even competitions for Flow and Optimum Experience, although this will probably fall under corrupt Western science, which is equated by these barbarians with Satan’s work…
There are challenges there, that is a sure thing…on the issue of challenges and skills, there are some good examples, such when one is playing tennis, or something else and one is bored to death and ultimately annoyed and abandons a game with an opponent that is much weaker and similarly, he or she or they (we have to think of non-binary, pansexual, transgender, no gender and other categories) feels overwhelmed when set against someone who is so much better that any effort is futile and ludicrous, balls are thrown outside the park, when they are reached, which is seldom and the perfect balance is reached when one is facing the exact Aristotelian Golden Mean, between the two extremes…
Mobile phones are a huge challenge in an era when attention spans are set at about two seconds, as Bill Maher joked the other day, and people are constantly checking their screens and ergo it seems impossible to find the state where one forgets all else and reaches Flow, but Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi says we can bring Optimal Experience into everyday tasks, such as washing our teeth, driving to work, with goals, being one with the car and other methods which you find reading his classic, listening to him explain it on YouTube and in other places on the net…
November 6, 2009
I love this book. Along similar lines of the books Stumbling on Happiness and The Happiness Hypothesis, Finding Flow describes tools that contribute to a paradigm shift that help improve quality of life. Happiness is a loaded word, coming with all sorts of connotations depending on who is defining it. Religion likes to put a monopoly on what they feel is the formula to happiness. Motivational and health gurus contribute another formula. Stripped of bias' this book gets to the common sense basics of minimizing distractions and provide methods to get in the "zone." A place of much personal satisfaction.
Finding Flow is loaded with practical, relevant information. As one shifts, evolves and grows in the personal arena, the tips used in this book provide an excellent segue to minimize developmental bumps.
Finding Flow is loaded with practical, relevant information. As one shifts, evolves and grows in the personal arena, the tips used in this book provide an excellent segue to minimize developmental bumps.
November 15, 2016
Very good book.
Let me just put it out there and say that it's not written in the self help style which many people are looking for. It will not provide you with a ten step program to improve your life and find the flow that an athlete or a composer experiences when he\she is in "the zone". No, nothing of such kind.
But if you listen closely it will open your eyes, it will teach you that beyond time, attention is the most precious resource we have. That, and mental energy. And that we are used by biology, by culture, by organizations that we work for and by the people around us to do their bidding. And if we do not take charge of what we trickle in our conscious minds and how to spend that energy, we will never even get close to enjoying life to the max.
I really enjoyed it and truly hope I will be able to put in practice some of the principles of this book.
Let me just put it out there and say that it's not written in the self help style which many people are looking for. It will not provide you with a ten step program to improve your life and find the flow that an athlete or a composer experiences when he\she is in "the zone". No, nothing of such kind.
But if you listen closely it will open your eyes, it will teach you that beyond time, attention is the most precious resource we have. That, and mental energy. And that we are used by biology, by culture, by organizations that we work for and by the people around us to do their bidding. And if we do not take charge of what we trickle in our conscious minds and how to spend that energy, we will never even get close to enjoying life to the max.
I really enjoyed it and truly hope I will be able to put in practice some of the principles of this book.
October 31, 2017
I enjoyed the first chapter and that was about it. I learned nothing more about Flow in the 8 other chapters. The book was very repetitive and I felt that the author did not have adequate research to back up his claims. Not to mention he kept repeating that those who spend time alone are unhappier than those who are with others. Has he never heard of introverts? Some of his statements led me to believe he lacked cultural competency, and overall I was disappointed with this book.
May 26, 2012
This is a life manual that everyone should be given at birth. It is succinct and true and applicable to every possible situation.
August 22, 2021
This book is a scientific study on what makes a life well lived.
Flow is executing with full concentration an action that represents a high challenge for us, and for which we have high level of skill. "To be totally absorbed in what you are doing and to enjoy it so much that you don't want to be doing anything else".
The author covers the types of activities we spent time doing, and the different levels of enjoyment experienced related to those, to then take us to the reflection that it makes (scientifically!) sense to try and experience as many as possible of these flow moments, and in the opposite sense, passive entertainment provides comparatively much less value. And for that, we need goals, we need purposes for which we have to plan, learn and execute (be it whatever, at work, free time...), so activities that require mental work and/or are active leisure.
Another nice concept is the autotelic one: an autotelic activity is one we do for its own sake, for the experience, as opposed to having another purpose (earn money, meet a need or etc); and from there, Csikszentmihalyi derives the concept of autotelic personality.
Some concepts and conclusions I somehow (intuitively? because I read things before?) already had in mind, but still a nice summary, with a lot of research but quite easy to read. This book was nice, positive, and the main message I take from it is: do! and do things that are a challenge and develop skill, because that is clearly part of the meaning of life.
Flow is executing with full concentration an action that represents a high challenge for us, and for which we have high level of skill. "To be totally absorbed in what you are doing and to enjoy it so much that you don't want to be doing anything else".
The author covers the types of activities we spent time doing, and the different levels of enjoyment experienced related to those, to then take us to the reflection that it makes (scientifically!) sense to try and experience as many as possible of these flow moments, and in the opposite sense, passive entertainment provides comparatively much less value. And for that, we need goals, we need purposes for which we have to plan, learn and execute (be it whatever, at work, free time...), so activities that require mental work and/or are active leisure.
Another nice concept is the autotelic one: an autotelic activity is one we do for its own sake, for the experience, as opposed to having another purpose (earn money, meet a need or etc); and from there, Csikszentmihalyi derives the concept of autotelic personality.
Some concepts and conclusions I somehow (intuitively? because I read things before?) already had in mind, but still a nice summary, with a lot of research but quite easy to read. This book was nice, positive, and the main message I take from it is: do! and do things that are a challenge and develop skill, because that is clearly part of the meaning of life.
March 7, 2021
I read a book called "Happiness for Engineers" about 3 years ago. That book was a major disappointment. It turned out to be a poorly written, subjective account of how the author achieved happiness. I was looking for a more systematic approach to what a happy life would entail. And this is exactly what Finding Flow provided.
This book was full of moments of recognition for me. For example, empty free time always has an averse effect on my mood, and this book explains why convincingly. Overall, it presents a complete picture of how our daily life's activities influence our experiences. There are no shortcuts to a good life, but this book grants some perspective.
The only thing that left me confused was the last chapter, when the systematic approach is ditched for a second. The author assumed that we require some sort of overarching myth to replace religion in our life. An interesting science philosophy is brought forwards as an example, but it is hardly attempted to be convincing and it just left me confused with the point that Csikszentmihalyi was trying to make.
I look forward to reading Flow (this book's precursor).
This book was full of moments of recognition for me. For example, empty free time always has an averse effect on my mood, and this book explains why convincingly. Overall, it presents a complete picture of how our daily life's activities influence our experiences. There are no shortcuts to a good life, but this book grants some perspective.
The only thing that left me confused was the last chapter, when the systematic approach is ditched for a second. The author assumed that we require some sort of overarching myth to replace religion in our life. An interesting science philosophy is brought forwards as an example, but it is hardly attempted to be convincing and it just left me confused with the point that Csikszentmihalyi was trying to make.
I look forward to reading Flow (this book's precursor).
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