What is Flow?
What is flow state and how can it benefit you?
Accessing a flow state when you need to is perhaps one of the most powerful competitive advantages you can have – in business, in sports or in any area of your life where you want to perform your best.
The results speak for themselves. Here are just a few examples of the power of flow:
- McKinsey & Company found a 500% increase in productivity in executives who regularly access flow.
- Harvard University found that subjects continued to have three days of heightened creativity after a flow state.
- Advanced Brain Monitoring and Darpa found that subjects in flow have a 490% increase in skill acquisition
- The University of Sydney found that subjects in flow have a 430% increase in creative problem solving
These are results for individuals in flow, but group flow is also possible. When you have a team in flow, the effects multiply as the collaboration between the team members drastically increases too.
Also remember that when you’re in flow, not only do you perform your best, but you also feel your best too. This is because when you’re “in the flow” your body is flooded with a “cocktail” of “feel good” neurochemicals including dopamine, endorphins, anandamide, oxytocin and serotonin.
So, when we experience flow, we want more flow!
This makes a flow state an “autotelic experience” and the activities we are carrying out when we’re in flow become “autotelic activities”. This means that we participate in them for the enjoyment of carrying out the activity itself, rather than for some future reward.
A further demonstration of how powerful a flow state can be is the fact that it can even provide relief from debilitating conditions such as chronic pain. This is something that I have had personal experience of and so I carried out a research project on how flow states can provide relief from chronic pain as part of my FRC accreditation. I will be publishing this research as a series of blog posts very soon, so please watch this space!
How do I get into flow?
Some people have high-flow lifestyles. They seem to naturally be able to drop into the flow and perform at their best.
For others, flow is an elusive, random experience. Sometimes it happens, and sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes, the more someone tries to force the experience of finding flow, the less chance they have of achieving it.
However, it doesn’t have to be that way.
Whilst access to a flow state isn’t available on demand, the underlying science has now been decoded so that we now know how to make getting into flow more likely.
- We know it works in a four-stage cycle.
- We know there are triggers and blocks.
- We know the neurochemicals involved.
- We know the areas of the brain involved.
This means we can adjust the conditions in our lives to give us the best chance of getting into the flow.
For example, some of the triggers are clear goals, risk, novelty and getting the challenge skills ratio just right. When we build these triggers into our routines, we can make a flow state more likely. But, we need to avoid blocks too.
There is a saying “flow follows focus” so if we are repeatedly distracted or interrupted from the task at hand, getting into flow becomes almost impossible. These distractions don’t just come from other people, we can distract ourselves too and these distractions happen all too often, sabotaging our own performance.
Understanding the flow cycle can prevent this.
The flow cycle
We now know that flow works in a four-stage cycle and that we must work through each stage to get to the next. We can’t skip a stage or the cycle will be broken and we have to start again. In simple terms, the first stage is struggle, there is then a release before we drop into the flow state itself and then finally there is the recovery stage.
We know this because at each stage of the cycle, different neurochemicals are released and our brains go into different brain waves.
Phase 1: Struggle
The struggle phase is, as it sounds, a struggle. This stage is hard work and we have to lean into it and work through it. The trouble is, most people won’t do this. When they feel the struggle, they look for instant relief by, for example, checking social media or talking to a colleague. Then, when they get back to the task, they have to start struggling all over again.
In business, the struggle phase is when you are loading your brain with new ideas, information or when you are grappling with a tricky problem. In sport, it may be when you’re grinding up a steep hill on your mountain bike, or paddling into a wave while you’re surfing.
The struggle doesn’t have to and shouldn’t last indefinitely. When you have struggled enough, you need a release, not a distraction!
Phase 2: Release
I’m willing to bet that you have experienced the release phase without knowing it.
Think about a time when you were struggling with a tricky problem. Perhaps you were preparing a presentation, writing code, designing something and you got to the point where your brain felt full. You couldn’t take any more and you just had to walk away.
If you went for a walk in nature or took a shower did you suddenly get a flash of inspiration? Did everything suddenly become clear and you knew exactly what you needed to do to solve the problem?
That’s the release phase and it doesn’t happen when you talk to colleagues or check social media because different neurochemicals are involved.
Phase 3: Flow State
When you have this release, this is when you really need to dive into the task because now you will most likely drop into a full flow state. Everything will “flow”. Your productivity and creativity will increase. Problems will be solved. You’ll be unstoppable!
Phase 4: Recovery
But, you can’t live your life in a flow state. This stage of the cycle has to come to an end too and then you need to move into the recovery stage.
This is because when you’re in flow, you use a huge amount of energy and neurochemicals and these must be replaced. So, after you come out of a flow state, you need to give yourself the time to replenish these stores. When you’re recovered, you can then start the cycle all over again.
So, how does this sound? Would you like to live a high-flow lifestyle and achieve the results described above?
If you would like to find out more, I have a range of courses and training options for you to choose from.
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