Articles

Working at Your Peak with Flow

Monday, 17 May 2010 16:34

Our quality of life largely depends on two factors:

1. How we experience work, and

2. How we experience other people.

This is the conclusion of numerous studies on human happiness and meaning. One's self is largely defined by what happens in these two contexts.

If we have optimal work experiences, we’re more motivated to do good work, which also benefits the organisation and our co-workers. Our satisfaction is energising and self-perpetuating, and it carries over into our home life because we’re in a positive frame of mind.

To improve the quality of life through work, two complementary strategies are necessary:

1. Jobs should be re-designed so skills levels and challenges are high. This contributes to a more cheerful and active workforce, improved concentration, and greater creativity and satisfaction.

2. Workers must define and develop self-directing, intrinsic goals. When we learn to recognise opportunities for action, hone our skills, set reachable goals, and immerse our concentration and focus in the present, we become more engaged at work and experience a state of “flow.”

Without these strategies, it’s easy to multitask on autopilot and miss opportunities to excel.

People at all levels report a need for challenges that create flow at work, according to psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience.

Challenges must stretch our capacity, without being overwhelming.

The main elements for flow include:

1. Clear goals every step of the way

2. Immediate feedback on one’s actions

3. Balance between challenges and skills

4. A merging of action and awareness, with concentration focused on what we’re doing

5. Exclusion of other dimensions from consciousness to eliminate distraction

6. No fear of failure, as we’re focused on what has to be done

7. No self-consciousness or over-concern with ego

8. A distorted sense of time

9. Activity that becomes inherently enjoyable.

With thanks, Coach2Coach newsletter, May 11 2010.