Being in the Zone: How to Achieve the Flow State
Have you ever experienced a moment when you’re fully immersed in an activity, without noticing the flow of time, people around you, or even your basic bodily needs, i.e. hunger? You might immediately recall a time when you enjoyed listening to your favorite music with your newly bought headphones on the subway, feeling seamless closer and closer to every bar of the beat, word of lyrics, and the note of chords. People’s talking started to fade away and you even missed the stop station unconsciously. This is the very moment of “being in the zone”, and is actually what Csikszentmihályi initially described as a “flow state”. What is the Flow State? Happening a lot to athletes and creative workers when they are racing, painting, or practicing ballet dancing, the state of flow defines the situation when someone is completely absorbed in what he/she does, accompanied by a feeling of great enjoyment in the process. However, flow can not just happen in physical activity or creative pursuit, but also in a simple day-to-day activity/task, like reading or cooking. How Is It Truly Like to Stay in a Flow State? According to Csikszentmihályi’s research, people who he interviewed experienced the following feelings