One of the great undiscovered joys of life comes from doing everything one attempts to the best of one's ability. There is a special sense of satisfaction, a pride in surveying such a work, a work which is rounded, full, exact, complete in its parts, which the superficial person who leaves his or her work in a slovenly, slipshod, half-finished condition, can never know. It is this conscientious completeness which turns any work into art. The smallest task, well done, becomes a miracle of achievement. - Og Mandido
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Tom
DeMarco describes flow as a highly productive and creative state of concentration. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi describes flow as a sense of effortless action that provides enjoyment and ultimately happiness because your efforts are rewarded with learning and achievement. He goes on to say that it’s possible to improve your quality of life by making sure that the conditions of flow are part of all your activities.
Here’s a summary of Csiksczentmihalyi’s components of flow, enjoyment and happiness:
1. The challenges of doing something that you have the chance of completing. If the challenge is too much for you then it’s likely to make you anxious. If the challenge is insufficient you may become bored.
2. To help you enter flow and maintain concentration, identify a clear goal for your session and work incrementally, concentrating each increment on a limited field of attention.
3. Focus your awareness. Your actions and awareness will merge as you assimilate immediate feedback.
4. Immersion in flow removes the worries and frustrations of everyday life from your awareness.
5. Enjoyable experiences allow you to exercise a sense of control over your actions.
6. Concern for self disappears, yet paradoxically the sense of self emerges stronger after your session in flow has finished.
7. As you are immersed in flow your sense of time becomes distorted with hours passing in what seemed like minutes.
Further reading: Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
