State of 'flow'!
Krishnakumar Ramanathan
Managing Director and Group CEO S & S Power | Acrastyle | Hamilton Research and Technology | At the intersection of Engineering and Management lie infinite possibilities!
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State of ‘flow’! / 045, 06 Feb 2022
Do you remember a time when you were totally engrossed in what you were doing, and completely lost track of time? No distractions, no hunger or thirst, just the sense of doing something you really love, where work is its own reward.. this phenomenon was introduced by Hungarian-American psychologist Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, in his seminal work “Flow : The Psychology of Optimal Experience”. He described ‘state of flow’ as an optimal state of consciousness where we feel our best and perform our best.
As children, while playing or drawing, we have experienced states of flow, losing track of time. As adults, we admire people who achieve a state of flow – whether it’s Roger Federer’s sublime backhand in tennis, or P.V. Sindhu whipping a fierce smash in badminton, or Viswanathan Anand staring intensely at a chessboard – they are all in a state of flow, completely absorbed in what they do. Likewise, great artistes and musicians too, when they are creating or performing, are in a state of flow. Can working professionals like us can experience something similar? Yes, we can!
Dr. Mihaly plots level of challenge and skills on a graph; and mentions that when both are high, we enter a state of flow. Alternately,
- At our workplace, if we face challenges without the necessary level of skills, we are in a state of anxiety or arousal - upgrade skills to get to a flow state!
- At our workplace, if we have high skills, but our work is not challenging enough, we are in a state of relaxation or control – add challenges to get to a flow state!
What could a state of flow look like at work? A state where we are completely immersed and engaged in a certain activity, where all our energies are flowing, creative ideas are rushing forth, and we feel fully in control… While we can’t be in a flow state all the time, we can make a conscious effort to experience it at least for some time everyday. I always start my day with tasks I really enjoy doing – like joining meetings discussing new ideas or strategies. I also avoid starting the day by reading e-mails or getting into contentious issues – they can come later. Google employees are allowed to spend up to 20% of their time to pursue their interests or side projects, which will certainly create a space for them to experience flow state on regular basis.
The challenge is to put a little more of everyday life into that “flow” state, and for this, a combination of doing work we enjoy, and knowing the value it adds, can help us.
I hope you enjoyed reading this one, and as always, do leave your own stories and anecdotes in the comments section, as we build a conversation. Let’s get ‘flowing’!
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Warm regards, Krishnakumar.
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Senior Bid Manager -Global
2yI think at some point of time we all do have experienced this state of flow.It usually happens when we do things which are of our interest.
Senior Analyst at ARC Advisory Group
2yThanks for sharing; I experience this quite regularly and only after realizing that I have not eaten dinner and it is 8:30 PM at night at the office because I was so engrossed (aka 'zoned in') on what I was doing. Definitely can relate to this article LOL
Business Development LV Motors
2yYou have been writing very good articles. If possible, can these be released as a book or guide for the benefit of young generation?
Head-EHS -Associate Vice president @Greenko assessment management
2yDear Sir, At our workplace, if we have high skills, but our work is not challenging enough, we are in a state of relaxation or control – add challenges to get to a flow state! This is absolutely right and nice feeling after reading this one. I also admired after reading and we have to set targets big , then only our skills & competency would help to achieve and to get sati safa tin about our work !! Thank you for sharing !! 🙏💐👏😁💕
Deputy Project Director (Systems) /Chief E&M Expert - Power Distribution, Illumination, Lifts& Escalators, BMS, Solar, ECS-TVS
2yVery true. Being open to learning new skills is right way. There is so much to learn.