A Near & Far podcast episode (Nir Eyal, narrated by Johnny Heller) arguing that flow—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s deep-absorption state—is useful but unreliable for everyday work. Eyal explains why flow’s requirements (autotelic tasks, clear goals, immediate feedback) often don’t match typical professional tasks, describes the risks of waiting for flow (increased distraction), and offers practical alternatives—reimagining tasks as play by adding constraints and finding a ‘mystery’—to sustain focus and get work done without flow.
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Hi, I'm Nir Eyal and this is the near and Far Podcast. This podcast is about business, behavior and the brain. On this show I do a few things. I read quick articles I've written about topics shaping your behavior. I interview authors of books I enjoy, and from time to time I devote episodes to answering your questions. If you want to ask me a question, visit the podcast page on itunes, go to Ratings and Reviews and ask me a question by leaving a review. I promise to read it and possibly include your question in a future episode. So please ask me anything now. Enjoy the episode and for more, you can always Visit me@nearandfar.com.
The Pursuit of Flow is Overrated by Near Ayle Narrated by Johnny Heller that magical zone is great when you can find it, but what happens when you can't? The idea of flow is considered by many to be the epitome of productivity, also known as being in the zone or hitting your stride. Flow captivates us with its promise of becoming so absorbed in what we're doing that we tackle tasks effortlessly. It's kind of a productivity nirvana, an enlightened state of mind where we feel unstoppable, focused, and highly effective. But the reality is flow is elusive. It's nice if you can get it, but what if you can't? Sure, we can find flow without much effort when engaged in fun activities like playing sports and games. But when we have to do something we don't want to do, like responding to never ending emails or completing our taxes, finding flow can be impossible. For busy professionals, that's a big problem. If there's one thing I've learned writing my two best selling books, Hooked and Indistractable, it's that writing isn't always fun. It's hard work, full of boredom, self loathing and self doubt. Pretty much the opposite of flow. Still, I wanted to write my books, and waiting to conjure a state of flow often meant I was more susceptible to distraction. The good news is, we don't need to wait for flow to accomplish what we need to do. In fact, most people can't afford to wait for the muse to strike. Rather than depending on flow, we can learn other methods to do what needs to get done, no matter what. What is flow and why is it so hard to find? Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi coined the term flow in the 1970s. He defines it as a state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter. The experience is so enjoyable that people will continue to do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it. Csikszentmihalyi wrote that during flow, concentration is so intense that there is no attention left over to think about anything irrelevant or to worry about problems. Self consciousness disappears and the sense of time becomes distorted. Sign me up unfortunately, the trap of flow is that you can't find it in just any task. According to Six and Mihaly, flow requires several components, which he calls the elements of enjoyment. For one, the task at hand must be autotelic. That is, it must be done for its own reward. Doing something for the sake of getting rewarded, like completing tasks for a paycheck, is not autotelic. Well, that requirement pretty much rules out what people do for most of their working lives. Flow inducing tasks also require clear goals and provide immediate feedback. Again, that doesn't translate well to hard work, for which getting immediate feedback is rare. Slaving away on a task that takes a long time to complete means feedback is inherently delayed. The Dark side of Striving for Flow Flow is great when you can get it, but the price of relying too much on flow is that when you can't find it, you're more likely to succumb to the vicious cycle of distraction, a horrible loop of frustration and perpetual time scarcity. Distraction is an unhealthy escape from bad feelings or internal triggers. If you feel anxious, restless, or poorly qualified for a task, for example, those internal triggers may drive you to pick up your smartphone to scroll through Instagram or check the news in order to forget that feeling for a while. Likewise, a task that is not inherently engaging and enjoyable can elicit the internal triggers that lead us off track. That's why we can't make flow a precondition to getting things done. If you wait around for flow and it doesn't come, you have to learn to deal with your internal triggers or you never will get the task done. But how? Reimagining the Task Most people don't know how to focus on things they dislike doing for very long. They constantly drift from one thing to another as soon as a task gets too hard, boring, or uncomfortable. It's important to note that some people struggle with chronic mind wandering, though studies estimate ADHD afflicts less than 3% of the global adult population. It can be a serious problem and may require medical intervention. But for some 97% of the population, distraction can be easily tamed. That is, if we know what to do about it. There is a way to stay focused on a task without waiting for the elusive state of flow. It's called play. According to Professor Ian Bogust of Georgia Tech, play can help us persevere when we would otherwise quit. Surprisingly, Bogust says, play doesn't have to be fun. In fact, enjoyment isn't a prerequisite for play. Huh? Play, Bogus claims, can simply be a tool that helps to sustain our attention long enough to complete the task at hand. Instead of trying in vain to find flow, we can do two things to turn any task into play. 1 Add constraints. 2 Find the mystery Think of adding constraints like building a sandbox. An unconstrained pile of sand spills in all directions, but contain that sand and four pieces of wood and and suddenly you have a sandbox where children will play for hours. Similarly, when we let a task spill out into our day, we don't see it as play and we delay and procrastinate. But put a time constraint on the task and watch yourself sprint to get it done. The next time you have to respond to those dreaded emails or finish a blog post, you might give yourself only 20 minutes and see how much you can do. You don't have to enjoy it or find a magical state of flow, but you will accomplish much more than you would if you had just let it languish on your to do list. You might also infuse play into activities by looking for the mystery and something that other people don't notice. I found the play in writing my books by focusing on the unknown surrounding the topic. I don't write what I know. I write about what I want to know the mystery about. Finding the answer propels me forward, whether I'm in flow or not. Reimagining difficult work as play is empowering. Adding a constraint and finding the mystery can help us play anything. According to Bogus, Knowing how to harness this power can make any task more manageable, even when flow eludes us.
Thanks for listening to this episode of the near and Far Podcast. You can always find more at my blog, nearandfar.com and don't forget, if you have a question you'd like me to explore in a future episode, leave me your question. The former review for the podcast on itunes.
