Flow: when work makes you happy
Have you found yourself doing some task at work and really loving it? You’ve got the ear buds in, music going – you’re cruising – unaware of external or internal stimuli, just doing your work with no idea how time is passing. It’s pleasurable and meaningful at the same time, and you wish all your work could be like that.
This is flow. A phrase coined and studied by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, where people describe a “state of effortless concentration so deep that they lose their sense of time, of themselves, of their problems.” In this state, you are bucking up against the boundaries of what is challenging, but still within your ability to perform. We’re probably most familiar with this state when we’re doing a hobby or something outside of work we’re passionate about. Csikszentmihalyi says, “The best moments [in our lives] usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.” As a result of working in flow, you develop and grow, contribute to something meaningful, and find real joy while you do it.
Imagine feeling real joy while doing your job. I suspect some of us feel that from time to time – maybe more if we’re lucky. I know I’ve felt that when doing some routine, attention-demanding Excel work. In those flow moments, I felt on fire, energized, focused, confident, hyper-present – even if it was a menial task. Positive outcomes made me happy and confident, sure, but not necessarily the work involved in getting there. And it’s also a very different joy than going on vacation or lounging on the couch.
So what was that shit?? And how do I get back? Yeah, that was flow. And today I will share a few ways to help trigger flow on the job so you can potentially experience it more often.
Be specific. Some assignments are happenstance – we don’t always get to choose what projects we work on and the circumstances surrounding them. But when you do, focus on the one thing and only that thing. Resist the urge to jump to something else, or have the rest of your plate relatively cleared. Even more: break down the task or project to smaller pieces. Maybe some of these smaller pieces won’t allow enough time to get into flow, but the chances will be higher if you do this vs. trying to tackle a nebulous project from a bunch of different angles.
Have a clear goal. Define what it is you want to accomplish. Get the outline of your deck onto slides, finish billing, have all your reporting data input. If it’s something you haven’t done before, ask for guidance or a reference of a finished product. It’s important to know what the end looks like. Confidence and clear definition here are essentials to get into flow.
Understand the meaning. The important part (to me) of that Csikszentmihalyi quote from above is difficult AND worthwhile. Is the task your working on important or valuable? Or, if not really, is it at least necessary? This can be enough. I’ve experienced flow doing media tasks I knew wouldn’t move the needle or impress anyone, yet were also those things that just had to get done. They were necessary, and that made it meaningful.
Create a focused environment. Flow cannot occur if you’re distracted, and distracted flow is frankly a bummer, not really allowing you to sink into that state and experience all the benefits. I’ll remind you here to rethink putting together a focus list, or a cut-to-the-chase inventory of the environmental conditions where you can best focus. Take a look at a previous post on this here.
This flow state is awesome. Sometimes I feel it while I’m writing this newsletter, sometimes not. When I do, I know the conditions I just laid out are met: I am writing on a specific topic (and only that topic, to the best of my ability); I have a clear understanding of where I want the piece to go; I know the purpose of the article and why it’s necessary; and I’ve hit all the items on my focus list to maximize my being present. Did I get into flow while writing this? The first draft, yes.
Maybe we cannot get into a flow state all the time at work, but I hope these tips are helpful for your awareness as ways to shortcut your way there. There are plenty more ideas on this out there, so I’d encourage you to explore further.
More importantly for me, I love the idea that work can produce such a unique brand of joy, joy that’s different than vacation or relaxing on the couch or netting a positive outcome. That’s crazy to me. Hopeful, too. It reminds me that we – humans – like to learn, grow, develop, accomplish, create, overcome. And as much as we might be leaning into rest and relaxation as the joy of life, we can also honor this part of ourselves and trust that hard work isn’t all that bad either.
Go get ‘em this week.