Flow state, an indicator of my workplace wellbeing

Written By Matthieu Jaunatre

In this weekly post, I write about “flow state.”

Flow state is often described as a mean to an end. However, I believe flow state is an indicator of my wellbeing at the workplace.

And as I read and reflected about this fascinating concept, I share my two cents: learning and taking on challenges are essential contributors to my happiness at work.

When was the last time did you feel in flow state at work?

I usually wake up early to take my breakfast and drink my coffee before the household wakes up. As part of my routine, I am reading. This time, it is the book “The Middle Manager´s Survival Guide” from Cécile Demailly.

In her book, Cécile Demailly reviews useful tools, concepts, and strategies for middle managers to survive in the corporate world. One of those concepts is the flow state.

The term flow state was coined by the psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in the late 1960s, who dedicated his life to understanding the mechanism of happiness. He defined the flow state as the “optimal” experience. The person experiencing the flow state feels strong, alert, in effortless control, unselfconscious and at the peak of their abilities.

The flow state is intrinsically rewarding and therefore, positively affects happiness. It increases productivity, satisfaction and improves the emotional regulation. It also improves focus and increases confidence, helping to reduce anxiety and stress. It is a positive alternative to unhealthy and unproductive coping mechanisms.

One cannot be in flow state all the time. Typically, flow state will last between 90 minutes to 2 hours. The brain needs some rest periods to be most efficient. It is however possible to have multiple episodes of flow state during a day.

Csikszentmihalyi makes the distinction between happiness and pleasure. Pleasure is obtained mostly passively while happiness requires some participation. So as the “flow state.”

This picked up my interest.

I have been in flow state before. I can distinctly remember noticing it and telling myself that “I am in the flow” while in it, or after reflecting over a particularly stimulating moment and realising that I was in the flow. This happened while doing sport, but also during academic and work-related activities.

This got me confused. I do not recall that I deliberately looked for being in a “flow state.” It just happened; I was just there.

 The characteristics of the “flow state”

A person in flow state is defined as autotelic. Autotelic derives from two Greek words: autos (self) and telos (end or goal).

Being in flow state can be characterized by:

  • Being completely immersed in an activity with intense focus and creative engagement,

  • Having clear goals every step of the way,

  • Getting immediate feedback for the actions taken,

  • Being unselfconscious,

  • Acting effortlessly,

  • Having a heightened sense of awareness of the here and now,

  • Being immune to physical needs and distractions – those are excluded from consciousness,

  • Not being worried of failure,

  • Loosing sense of time – time is distorted,

  • Hitting the right balance between skills and challenge at hand.

In flow state, the activity itself is rewarding, independent of the outcome.

 The science behind the “flow state”

What was described empirically by Csikszentmihalyi has now been backed up by hard science.

Research shows that flow state is connected to wellbeing by suppressing brain activation in structures associated with thinking about ourselves, dampening activation in structures associated with negative thoughts, and increasing activation in reward-processing regions.

Modern neuroscience and biochemistry have uncovered a distinct pattern in the brain about how a flow state is induced where five neurotransmitters are at play:

  • Dopamine – This is the first neurotransmitter involved in the flow state. As dopamine floods the brain, it increases attention, information flow, and pattern recognition. It acts as a skill booster. Moreover, dopamine helps registering agreeable experience or action, and encourages us to do it again.

  • Norepinephrine – This neurotransmitter triggers a glucose response that will increase the heart rate, muscle tension, and respiration. There is more energy available, triggering arousal, attention, neural efficiency, and emotional control.

  • Endorphins – Endorphins relieve pain and induce pleasure, up to one hundred times more powerfully than morphine.

  • Anandamide – This neurotransmitter has a psychoactive effect like cannabinoid. It elevates mood, relieves pain, dilates blood vessels, and aids in respiration.

  • Serotonin – Serotonin acts as a post-exercise bliss effect as the flow state has already come and gone.

 Getting in the “flow state”

The notion of “getting in the flow state” challenged me. I did not recall preparing me in any shape or form to get in the flow state. I just noticed or remembered I was there.

I read several articles describing different steps and processes to get in flow state. I summarize four in this article. Although the four proposals all have elements in common, I understand them more as advice rather than proven protocols. That reinforced my understanding (I should pay attention to my cognitive bias…) that you do not “choose” to get in the flow state. At best, you create the conditions to access it.

These models certainly outline key principles that I would find normal prerequisite to undertake any activity where I could see myself being in flow state: one thing at a time, not boring or unfeasible, no distraction (I don’t think I would need my phone while running, kite surfing or while speaking at a townhall…).

My take

Apologizes for my ironic tone… but I am struggling with the concept of getting in flow state following a protocol.

According to Csikszentmihalyi, being in a flow state does require a level of preparation. Contrary to pleasure, it is not an emotional state one will achieve passively.

The five models above might be the pathway to get to flow state. But my interpretation of what flow state requires is slightly different and simpler.

While I read about flow state, I came across two diagrams based on Csikszentmihalyi’s work.

The first diagram shows the different emotional states one would be in when looking at the combination of the skills needed to perform an activity and the challenge offered by this activity.

The eight emotional states are:

  • Flow

  • Arousal

  • Anxiety

  • Worry

  • Apathy

  • Boredom

  • Relaxation

  • Control

If I follow the logic of the models developed in the earlier section, that will mean that if we have a protocol to reach flow state, then there would be a protocol to reach arousal, anxiety, boredom… and so forth.

You see my point now. At least, that did not make much sense to me.

The other diagram I came across really helped me to make sense of the flow state. This is one is in Cecile Demailly’s book.

This entails that I must make a conscious decision to learn or practice something to grow my skills and competencies in a specific domain. As I become more proficient in that domain, I will deliberately choose some challenging assignments, so I can use my skills.

This means that I acted. I was not passive. And because of learning and challenging myself, I find myself in the flow state (not the other way around).

With that in mind, I can use the patterns of the flow state as an indicator of my wellbeing at the workplace.

Just ask yourself: how often do I find myself in flow state?

  • Regularly – You are hitting the sweet spot, with an ideal combination of skills and challenges. That also entails that there is purpose in what you are doing. It also infers that your workplace environment is favorable to creating the conditions of flow state – meaningful tasks, availability of trainings...

  • Seldom or never – That might show a few things:

    • You have developed strong skills but there is no assignment that would challenge you to put them into contribution. You found yourself bored and disengaged. Ask around, talk to your boss, look at assignments in your organization. You might find what you need to express your potential.

    • You are given challenging projects, tasks, or assignments. That might be for a particularly good reason. You have potential. By giving you so-called stretched assignments, your work organization wants you to develop. But you do not have the skillset yet to successfully complete the project you have been given. You might head towards the anxiety zone. Be careful, that will lead to stress and even to burn out. It is particularly important that you assess your specific training or skills needs when considering stretched assignments. This is to your benefit and to the benefit of your organization.

    • You have lost sense of purpose. It is very unlikely that you will find yourself in flow state if you do not have any interest or connection to the task you are doing, whether you have the skillset for it or if it is challenging enough This calls for deeper reflections. More skills and more challenges will not help you to find your purpose.

As we progress and grow, what was once a truly challenging task or activity has now become an easy thing.

Likewise, a skill that was once acquired out of demanding work and practiced tens of time might not give you this extra edge anymore or is simply outdated.

This means that you will have to periodically review your skills and competencies and consider if they are still adequate to the world of work you live in.

So first takeaway: learn continuously.

Concurrently, practice those new skills by continuously looking for and taking on new projects or assignments.

Second takeaway: put yourself out there and challenge yourself to practice your skills and competencies.

Those two things go hand in hand. They require that you act.

Being in flow state is a key progress indicator of your wellbeing at the workplace.

If you are in flow state, you are on the right path and in the right place.

Sources:

Matthieu Jaunatre
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