Flow state depends entirely on the right conditions being in place, and when they aren’t, the impact can be far reaching.
Being out of flow tends to show up in one of two ways: either as anxiety and stress, or as disinterest and flatness.
The first is probably easier to identify, but feelings of disinterest or flatness can be more subtle. The experience of showing up and going through the motions can, over time, become the norm, gradually building until it feels like something we should just get on with, and perhaps we just need a holiday or to snap out of it. Yet, deep down we know that after the holiday nothing will have changed and we’ll be left with that Sunday night dread of the week ahead.
This is where flow state comes back into the picture. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, well known for his research on flow, found that the mind doesn’t thrive on ease and doesn’t light up when things are comfortable and predictable. It performs at its best at the edge of its capability, where the challenge is real and the skill is stretched just enough to meet it.
When that balance tilts, one of two things happens:
💠Too much challenge, not enough skill leads to anxiety and stress.
💠Too much skill, not enough challenge results in flatness and disengagement, a gradual loss of the thing that used to make the work feel worthwhile.
The sweet spot between the two is what Csikszentmihalyi called the flow channel and James Clear calls the Goldilocks Zone, the place where challenge and skill are in balance and where we do our best and most satisfying work.
Whilst remaining in the flow channel is the ideal for both performance and personal satisfaction, what that requires changes over time. For someone who has mastered their skills and performed at a high level for many years, the challenge looks very different to someone just starting out in a new role or business.
If you are feeling out of flow, the solution isn’t to work harder or push on regardless. The first step is simply to notice what energises you during your working week and what exacerbates that feeling.
Next week we’ll look at what moving out of the flat calm and back into flow actually involves and why it requires something different from simply working harder.
Photo Credit Towfiqu Barbhuiya– Pexels