Going With The Flow

"Oh my, where did the time go?!?" Have you ever exclaimed that after looking up from doing something and realizing that several hours had slipped by? That has happened to me when working with stained glass, sewing a quilt, and at times when writing. Losing track of time is part of the experience of being in  flow. We know that one of the ways people experience more fulfilling  lives in retirement is to find a passion or challenge that allows you to experience flow with some regularity.

So what is flow exactly?
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (MC going forward), Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Management at Claremont Graduate University, is known for his study of happiness and creativity and credited with naming the concept of flow.

MC posits that our ability to get in flow in our lives connects to our ability to experience happiness more fully. He would say that flow is part of what we need to continue to make life worth living. He also contends that the ability to experience flow must be cultivated and practiced. If you are looking for greater happiness and fulfillment in this stage of your life, seeking flow opportunities can be a great goal.

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Flow is defined as experiencing these seven aspects during an activity:

1. Feeling completely immersed in what we are doing.
2. A sense of being outside of our everyday reality.
   
3. An element of challenge, and knowing that we have the skills and imagination to make it doable.
4. Great inner clarity about what needs to be done and also about how we are doing along the way.
   
5. A sense of serenity and being less caught up in our sense of self or ego needs. After we finish, a greater sense of self emerges as a result of the flow experience.
   
6. A sense of timelessness while doing it.
   
7. Knowing that what we are doing is worth doing for its own sake, not for any other reason (e.g., reward, compliments, money, etc.). That doesn't mean that won't happen, but the flow experience would still be worth doing without it.
   

The Benefits of Flow in our Lives
If you are able to get in flow regularly, you will experience several benefits to your well-being. MC found the following benefits in his research:

• Greater levels of happiness. This doesn't happen during the experience of flow, but as a result of it afterward.
  
• Increased self-esteem, both immediately after having an experience of flow as well as on an ongoing basis if you are in flow regularly.
  
• Greater ability to focus, and as a result, greater ability to cope with a major challenge.
  
• When in flow, our brains move from beta waves of concentration to alpha waves of relaxation to theta waves of meditation, which are the waves where we will have our a-ha moments and access our creative genius.
• Flow helps us learn as it increases the release of dopamine. Dopamine helps us feel excited, heighten our attention and enable us to see the beauty and new patterns in our world. The new way of knowing that we  gain in that state, we are able to apply to other circumstances.
• Flow frees us from the quest for fame, fortune, or power as a means of feedback. The meaning in life is already there.

When have you last experienced doing something that had those dimensions to it? Are you still having those opportunities in your life?

Getting Into Flow
According to MC, in order to access flow, we need to have some sense of being aroused by the challenge involved and some sense of channeling our skills to meet the challenge. Flow isn't easily or typically accessed from a state of anxiety, worry or apathy, according to MC. Most of the time when we are watching TV, he believes we are in apathy. So if you are in search of flow, getting away from the TV could be a start.

Edward Phillips wrote an article in the Harvard Health Blog about ways to move toward flow in our lives. Here are some of his ideas, which also happen to be great ideas for retirement.

• Flow is attained when we engage in a specific task with specific goals.
• Choose an activity that can provide you with new feelings, experiences and insights. Allow your feelings and awareness to flow without attempting to interfere with what you want to feel or think you should feel.
• Set out with the aim to surprise yourself and discover new aspects to your abilities and the activity.
• Overcome the urge to stop at every mistake. Stay focused on what you want to accomplish and don't let the mistakes distract you.
• Keep your sense of humor.

Activities that will help us access flow, by definition, need to present a challenge to us and require us to use a higher level of our skills. We know that those kinds of activities also help keep our brain active and are used to help prevent decline later in life. All the more reason to go with the flow!

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Questions for Your Reflection

1. What is that activity for you that gets you into flow?
   
2. How are you incorporating opportunities for flow activities into your life?
3. Do you need to step up the level of challenge you are giving yourself in the activities you are engaged in?
4. If you experienced flow in your work, how will you find a place in your life in retirement to take on new activities that allow you to access flow?
5. When you experience flow, how does it help you in other parts of your life?

I'd love it if you would leave a comment about what you do to get in flow, something you've experienced as a result, or what you are doing to find and cultivate flow in your life. Leave your comments below. If you would like to explore more ways of having flow in your life or how to prepare for or live in retirement or unretirement, email me.

References:
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 1st ed.
Phillips, E. Go with the Flow: Engagement and Concentration are Key. Harvard Health Blog, Harvard Publishing, October 29, 2015

Ruth Tongen helps people plan and live retirement or a next great chapter in a happier, healthier way filled with meaning. Find an 'aha', move it to an aspiration, get out of being stuck, and then put it into action.

E-mail: ruth@ruthtongen.com to get started living a more meaningful next chapter.