Limitless Chapter 10: flow
In his book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience,
psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi describes flow as
“the state in which people are so involved in an activity
that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is
so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost, for
the sheer sake of doing it.” To Csikszentmihalyi, flow is
an expression of “optimal experience.”
Dr. Csikszentmihalyi describes flow as having eight
characteristics:
1. Absolute concentration
2. Total focus on goals
3.The sense that time is either speeding up or slowing
down
4. A feeling of reward from the experience5. A sense of
effortlessness
5. The experience is challenging, but not overly so
6. Your actions almost seem to be happening on their
own
7. You feel comfort with what you are doing
8. Being in a flow state dramatically boosts your
productivity.
FINDING FLOW
1 . Eliminate Distractions
2. Give Yourself Enough Time
3. Do Something You Love
4. Have Clear Goals
5. Challenge Yourself . . . A Little
CONQUERING THE ENEMIES OF FLOW
Training yourself to achieve flow regularly and even in
multiple sessions in the same day will have you performing
like a superhero. To be in this state, here are the four super
villains you need to get rid of: Multitasking, stress, fear of
failure and lack of conviction.
Actually, “perfectionism reduces creativity and
innovation”
