How you can contribute to creating an engaged and collaborative workforce
Based on Mihály Csíkszentmihályi’s theory of Flow.
Think about a time when you were completely absorbed in an activity.
It could have been when you were trying to solve a difficult puzzle, engaging in recreational pastime, or maybe pushing forward on a challenging work project.
You probably felt like you were “in the zone”.
This state of psychological immersion is called “Flow’ which enables you to near-effortlessly ‘flow’ through your work.
Hours pass by like minutes and the outside world simply melts away, as you focus on the task at hand.
The human brain has a limited capacity of attention that it can utilise at any given moment.
Most of the time, our attention is spread across multiple different tasks, even when we make a conscious effort to focus on one.
If we are listening to someone speak in a conversation, we also use some of our attentional capacity to be aware of our surroundings or find our attention has floated off to contemplate unrelated matters.
When our attention is “scattered” in this way, it makes it more difficult to focus on or complete tasks, as our attention is spread across too many distractions.
In contrast, when we’re in a state of ‘Flow’ our attention is concentrated, so we don’t consciously notice the external distractions but we do remain aware of the bigger picture.
However, this comes with a risk of becoming “Attention-Captured”. This is when we focus on a task too much (akin to hyperfocus) to the detriment of other responsibilities and commitments.
Consider whether you tend to be ‘Attention-Scattered’, in ‘Flow’ or even at times, ‘Attention-Captured’!
Research indicates there are many benefits:
Imagine someone who is climbing a rock wall. They make careful moves, pulling themselves upwards, being continually rewarded with progress towards their end goal. This loop of action and motivational feedback is what makes a Flow state feel so fiercely engaging, whether the activity is a physical climb or a challenging piece of office work.
It can be a tricky state to induce consciously. It usually arises naturally while completing a task, and oftentimes we don’t even notice we’re ‘in the flow’ until we’re out of it. However, there are a few actions you can take to increase your chances of entering a Flow state.
An integral element is that one’s skillset is balanced with the challenges being faced. For Flow, the tasks being worked on ideally require an interest, curiosity, creative thinking and/or well-matched skills and motivation to find a solution or complete the task.
Remember ‘Flow’ is characterised by a feeling of effortless, enjoyable engagement, so don’t overthink it! Often, you’ll enter a Flow state without even realising it. However, you can also influence this by setting up the conditions.
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