Train Your Brain for Flow

If you’re lucky, you’ve been there.

With practice, you can get there many times a day.

Where? That place called Flow… where you are totally focused, everything else falls away, you perform at your best, and work feels effortless.

What is Flow?

Flow was first explained by Mihaly Csikszentmihaly and a team of researchers at the University of Chicago. They asked people to describe a time when they performed at their peak. Regardless of profession – sports, chess, surgery – everyone’s description was the flow state. It’s not just experts who can experience this mindset. Everyone works best when they’re in what some people call the zone.

Smart leaders who help people get into flow and stay there know they will work at their peak abilities. The more time an organization’s employees spend there, the better they will perform. This is especially true for anyone whose work requires creativity.

Your Brain on Flow

In this state of mind a brain is primed for optimal performance and creativity by something neuroscientists call transient hypofrontality. Hypofrontality refers to the deactivation of the prefrontal cortex, the section of the brain that deals with thinking and cognitive functions. Transient means it is a temporary condition. The prefrontal cortex is also where our sense of self resides. In flow, that sense of self drops away.

A specific part of our brain – the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex – is in charge of monitoring our impulses. That self-critical section steps back when we enter the zone, making us more open to new possibilities.

Researchers have seen many changes in brain chemistry when someone is in flow. Performance-enhancing chemicals such as dopamine and endorphins flood the brain. Some of the chemicals increase our ability to focus, while others help us link ideas together in new ways.

The Paths to Flow

Csikszentmihaly and other researchers have identified several conditions that lead to flow. One component is the level of difficulty of a task. Engaging in something that just stretches your skill is more likely to cultivate flow. A task that is too simple will result in boredom. One that is too challenging brings on stress and frustration.

Another important factor is caring about what you’re doing. If your work matters to you, you’re more likely to reach flow.

Focus Leads to Flow

Pun intended, a great deal of my work has focused on the final component. Fully absorbed focus is a way to move into flow. The more we concentrate on a task, the more likely we are to enter it. Unlike the other components – the right level of challenge and caring about your work – focus is something we can control. Increased skill at paying attention to what we choose leads to stronger concentration. And, such concentration can lead to flow.

We can develop our ability to focus just like we work out at the gym to increase our muscle strength. Mindfulness is one way to build that ability. We can use it to notice when our attention has strayed and bring it back. Researchers at Emory University found that basic repetition strengthens your ability to concentrate.

The good news: You can spend time whenever you want at the “mental gym.”

Here’s a suggestion for a basic mental workout: Focus on your breath. Whenever you notice your mind wandering away from your breath, bring your focus back to your breath.

It sounds simple, but is more profound than it seems. Spending time on that exercise every day strengthens the brain pathways that allow you to focus. With stronger focus skills you can choose to step down the path to flow wherever you are, whatever you’re doing.

Brainpower: Mindsight and Emotional Intelligence in Leadership, provides leaders, executive coaches, management consultants, and HR professionals with a science basis for their leadership development work. Register for the live four-part webcast series with Daniel Goleman and Daniel Siegel throughout February here. 

Additional Resources

Create to Innovate with Teresa Amabile and Daniel Goleman

Cultivating Focus: Techniques for Excellence

Relax: 6 Techniques to Lower Your Stress

Working with Mindfulness

The HR & EI Collection