N-Squared - Go With The Flow

by John R. Nocero & Michelle Natale

 John: It is a boxer repping a speed bag, with the rhythmic staccato of a metronome. It is a rapper in the booth going freestyle, hitting every rhyme on top of a rocking beat. It is sitting in a computer, typing, working, writing, reading, and looking at the clock five hours later and realizing you are so engaged that you didn’t eat. You lost track of time and got so deep, everything was, well perfect, - all your senses were on fire, you almost could reach out and taste this indescribably delicious state. You weren’t hallucinating. You weren’t in heaven or Iowa. You were in the intoxicating state of flow, being in the zone, that state of peak performance.

 The flow state has been described by the world’s greatest thinkers as the most productive and creative state of mind in which to work. In addition, positive psychologists–most notably Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Ph.D.– argue that achieving the flow state on a regular basis is a key component of happiness. That is, by learning how to enter the state of flow you can increase your productivity, be more creative, and be happier, all at the same time. In 2004, Dr. Csikszentmihalyi gave a TED Talk in which he explains that the nervous system is incapable of processing more than 110 bits of information per second. If you’re listening to someone speak, you need to process about 60 bits of information per second in order to understand what they’re saying. This is why if there are two people talking to you at the same time, you can’t listen to both of them and understand what both are saying.

 For me, getting into that state, I am completing involved in creating something new that I don’t have enough attention. He then goes on to explain that when you’re completely involved in the process of creating something new you don’t have enough attention left over to monitor how your body feels–the fact that you’re hungry or tired–or to listen to your mind chatter. It is if I don’t exist. My mechanism is clear. All I can do is think and type. I let it go. When the idea comes that I have to write about ASAP, that’s the flow state. I listen to my body and get to work. I don’t feel my breathing. My concentration is sharp. I hear nothing. It is so beautiful. An important part of achieving the flow state is developing a high level of skill in the particular area in which you’re striving to achieve a flow state. Writing now comes second nature – I don’t think it, I hear it. It’s just a game. I’m not scared. I’m not nervous. I’m just playing the game. It is blissful. It is ecstasy.

Michelle, there are many ways to enter flow. How does it feel for you to enter flow and how can you get into that state?

 Michelle: For me, it is very similar as you, John. When I’m writing or creating, it just comes to me. Time doesn’t exist when I’m in that state. It’s a very liberating and exhilarating feeling really! Some of my best work is done when I’m in the flow. This is my figurative state of flow.

 Then there’s my literal state of flow. For example, when I drive – I’m fully present in the flow of traffic and commutes. I’m a self-professed speed racer and I like speed (can’t help it)! So when all of the other cars on the road are driving under the speed limit (yes, in Seattle that does happen) – I’m in my version of flow being on the road, I can see several steps ahead – where the gaps are between cars; which lane I’m going to end up in next; anticipating where the slowdowns might be. My adrenaline is on full-throttle – like a rush to the finish line (a.k.a. my destination). But when my flow gets interrupted or stopped short, it’s a frustrating disruption! 

 But then there are times I am really in the flow with life on the road – in non-speed racer mode, and just driving along with everyone else…really in the “flow” of traffic. All is right with the world in those moments…calm, easy, and there’s no sense of rush rush rush to get to my destination. 

Is flow a choice? I’m thinking it can be. It’s about being in a certain mental state. Maybe it’s part vision? And another part focused attention…all with an end goal in mind. 

 #kindreds

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