The Elusiveness of Flow

Whenever you hit that flow state, it’s golden. You become transformed, tapping into your psyche, spawning fresh ideas, and unleashing your best work.

But how often has flow evaded you instead? It is like an elusive entity outside your control — one can only await its divine arrival. And worrying about it only wards it off even more.

But there is hope.

Let’s look at the subject of sleep — or lack of it — insomnia. So many people live with the frustrating daily pursuit of catching a few z’s. But however sleep-deprived they are, humans still manage to get some shut-eye. Chris Winter, a somnologist (person who studies sleep), reminds us that humans can’t not sleep. Every insomniac will eventually, and inevitably, succumb to slumber.

I believe the same is true for a creative person and their creative flow. Flow will eventually and inevitably creep in, and you will ride that awesome wave. Yes, I assure you, it will come.

“Like sleep to an insomniac, flow is elusive but inevitable.”
— Arlyn Ramos

Becoming a Vessel for Flow

The hard part is the waiting. When will that optimal experience happen? What if we can’t stand by for inspiration to hit? Are there people who tend to get into flow more often?

Research on this phenomenon reveals that there are aspects of personality that can contribute to or hinder the experience of flow.

In his article “Who Enters Flow?”, scientist Scott Barry Kaufman lists a few notable factors. He elaborates on the research done by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Kiyoshi Asakawa on Japanese college students.

They looked at the Big Five personality traits (extroversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism) as well as cognitive ability. They surveyed respondents’ experience of flow in various areas: work, maintenance (like chores), and leisure time.

Among these, the trait that correlated with higher reports of flow was high conscientiousness. Kaufman says, “Those who reported experiencing flow more often… were more likely to have higher levels of self-esteem, Jujitsu-kan (a sense of fulfillment), life satisfaction, coping strategies, and lower anxiety.”

Kaufman says this is likely because “conscientiousness is positively related to other variables that are also associated with flow, such as social problem solving, life satisfaction, subjective happiness, positive affect, and intrinsic motivation. Conscientious individuals are also more likely to spend the time practicing to master challenging tasks, conditions which make flow more likely.”

In contrast, those with high neuroticism tended to experience less flow. The researchers reasoned out that the negative and fluctuating emotions interfere with the cognitive demands and joyful state of flow, and that neurotic people “tend to have less motivation to become involved in activities and experience a greater sense of futility in engaging fully in life.”

This shapes a fundamental picture of the mechanics behind flow — conscientiousness encourages or correlates with flow, while neuroticism hinders it.

(Nerdy Note: Although the Big 5 Model is more widely accepted by psychologists, I am of the camp that appreciates the granularity of the 8 Function Model by John Beebe, a Jungian psychologist. I find it a fascinatingly more informative framework than OCEAN. The relationship between personality and flow experience could be broken down and studied further in terms of the eight cognitive functions and sixteen personality types. But that’s another rabbit hole to go down, so let’s move on.)

Nurture Over Nature

Regardless of the personality psychology model you choose or how you test on any of these scales, no one is doomed to be stuck to the tendencies of their natural personality. While it may take a heap of effort, everyone has the opportunity to nurture and retrain themselves to adopt new behaviors and habits and develop a more individuated personality.

What Makes Flow Flow?

Let’s begin by defining what being in a flow state looks like. What is the difference between being in flow and not being in flow?

“Flow — the mental state of being completely present and fully immersed in a task. When in flow, the creator and the universe become one, outside distractions recede from consciousness, and one’s mind is fully open and attuned to the act of creating.” — Scott Barry Kaufman

Is Not Flow

• very conscious of and distracted by the surrounding world
• loaded with self-judgment and stifling perfectionism
• feels stuck, can’t get off the ground
• out of sync
• forced and effortful

Is Flow

• being fully immersed; the world and any potential distractions tuned out or ignored
• devoid of self-criticism, not self-conscious
• gains momentum
• resonates, feels true to you
• natural, playful, free, open-minded
• time warps: “hours pass by in minutes, and minutes can stretch out to seem like hours.”

Inviting and Facilitating Flow

How can we invite flow more often and consistently into our daily lives? How can we sidestep the forces that tend to sabotage us?
Let’s look into the ideal conditions for facilitating flow. These criteria can help us identify what needs adjusting and fine-tuning.

In his book, “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience”, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi lists the conditions needed to facilitate the phenomenon. I summarize his observations and add to them below.

1. Skill-level match. Mastery. One needs to be stimulated but not overwhelmed by the difficulty level of the work. If one does not have the skills for the challenge, it adds friction to the creative process.
2. Ability to concentrate. You are fully immersed in the task and entirely fixated on it, body and mind working as one. “Your mind isn’t wandering. You are not thinking of something else; you are totally involved in what you are doing…. You feel relaxed, comfortable, and energetic,” says Csikszentmihalyi.
3. Problems irrelevant to the task at hand are ignored. A meditative magic comes over you, and any outside distractions or worries melt away. This goes hand in hand with the part about deep concentration.
4. Clear and realistic goals. With a clear goal and a set of parameters that are neither too stifling or too wide open, it is easy to focus and hit the target.
5. Immediate feedback. Information lets us know we are doing it right, and we feel a sense of self-efficacy and control. One of the telltale signs is that there is a sense of gaining traction or momentum. You are ticking off the list of goals. My theory is that because of this immediate positive feedback, confidence builds, which fuels the flow even more. (Note: Sense of control is included as a another item on Csikszentmihalyi’s list, but that can fold into the points made about skill mastery and feedback.)
6. “Non-self-conscious individuality.” Not being self-conscious, overly critical of oneself, or paralyzed by perfectionism. There needs to be a detachment from the ego to make way for integrity and a wholesome, deeper connection. Don’t do it for the ‘Gram; do it for your innermost self. When you let go of all the self-judgment and pressure of what others might be thinking of you, the self becomes more open to creative possibilities. Not only that, I think it leads to a more genuine and meaningful experience. “When not preoccupied with our selves, we actually have a chance to expand the concept of who we are. Loss of self-consicousness can lead to self-trancsendence. to a feeling that the boundaries of our being have been pushed forward,” says Csikszentmihalyi.
7. Driven by an “autotelic” characteristic. “Autotelic” is defined as having and end in itself. It is intrinsically motivated, not extrinsically motivated. It is about doing the work for the joy of doing the work. It is about being fully present, rather than worrying about the past or future. This reminds me of the popular expression, “enjoy the process,” which is often said but hard to live out to it’s highest potential. If you’re miserable during the process, you’re not quite there yet. But you can work on this and I am cheering you on.

These criteria are indicators of a healthy atmosphere and optimal setup for flow to come in. By being attuned and more aware of ourselves, we can more swiftly detect when one of these is off, and recalibrate. Through adjustments to our psychic energy, behaviors, habits, situation, environment, process, or frame of mind, we can navigate ourselves back into the current.

Tools and Practices for Inviting Flow

What follows are some practical tips based on what we have learned about ideal conditions for flow.

Tip 1: Balancing Skill and Challenge

The Flow Model / Diagram

There is an interesting relationship between flow, challenge level, and skill level. This diagram by Csikszentmihaly depicts flow in a narrow channel that resides delicately between anxiety and boredom. To be in flow, you need to hit a balance of the right challenge and skill level. If you are not in flow, you are in one of two places:

1. Anxiety — Lacking the skill to meet the challenge
2. Boredom — Skills have advanced beyond the difficulty of the challenge

What to Do in the Anxiety State

If you lack the skill or the challenge is too hard, you can do two things: first, you can upskill. Sometimes, it means learning on the job, taking a class, or getting advice or training from someone knowledgeable. On the other hand, you can try to make the challenge easier to conquer — simplify it, chunk it into manageable pieces, or get help.

What to Do in the Boredom State

If you find yourself bored, then you need to up the ante. Make it more challenging, more exciting, more interesting, and more purposeful. Gather more info and generate more reasons to get excited. Passion projects are a great way to motivate yourself because they are usually intrinsically rewarding.

Tip 2: Time-to-Make Ritual

Athletes and performers tend to have their warm-up exercises and preparation rituals. There’s something about the repeated actions that jog the psyche, activate deeply wired muscle memory, and fire up your ingrained skills. It helps you put the mind in the muscle. So, if you do not already have one, I encourage you to set up a routine that tells your brain, “It’s time to make.” Develop a ritual that fits and resonates with you.

Environmental examples:

• Enter a dedicated space
• Open windows/shades or turn on a lamp

Physiological examples:

• Adjust your posture or do a stretch
• Strike a pose
• Have your favorite snacks or beverages ready
• Put on non-distracting music
• Do parasympathetic breathing

Mental examples:

• Meditate or pray first
• Say positive affirmations
• Reserve a block of time that’s absolutely yours

Tip 3: Get Mindful

• Do a Mental Check-In: Survey your internal landscape. What is your emotional weather and mental state?
• Clear Up Mental RAM. Take a moment to stop running programs in your head that are taking up precious processing power.
• Tidy up and put away any thoughts not aligned with the current task.
• Write down the mental chatter and worries in a journal or notepad to unload the weight (and go back to them later)

Tip 4: Moving Train Analogy

Imagine you are trying to jump onto a moving train. The blank canvas you face is the ground between you and the train. So like feet to pavement, put pen to paper and run — doodle, thumbnail, make a thing, whatever your thing is, with no judgment.

• Set a prompt, like a minimum number of 100 doodles or a time limit, whatever gets you moving.
• Don’t wait for the best ideas to come — the train is departing! Work with what you’ve got, and get moving.
• Keep going, however sloppy or wobbly your strides. Now is not the time to judge or criticize your work. That creates friction which you can’t afford right now. Those early ideas may feel mediocre now but will evolve into design gold later. Right now, it’s about covering ground, gaining momentum, and losing all inhibitions.
• Next thing you know, you’ve already closed the gap. The last thing to do is have a little bit of faith, leap headlong into your work, and you’re on the train.

Tip 5: Address the Anxiety

If neuroticism disrupts flow, we need to actively counteract it with intentional mind-strengthening. Do journaling. Learn how to meditate. Go to therapy. Get your precious sleep. Process what needs processing and attend to your mental health.

Something else worth exploring is depth psychology. I‘m talking about personality development, centering, personality integration, and shadow work. It is difficult work and sometimes heavy, mentally. However, if you want to understand yourself at a deeper level, work on your temperance and resilience, and improve your mental wellbeing, it can help.

Ebb & Flow

In all our pursuit of flow, there is a crucial other side of this to visit, and that is the opposite of flow — the ebb; the slow and non-awesome phase.

Yes, we love flow and the productivity it brings, but then comes the time when we seem to only be able to trickle out mediocre work and everything feels so lackluster. Should we be disheartened when we experience a creative drought?

Every artsy person can expect to hit their walls. When it comes, maybe don’t fight it; embrace it instead.

What is essential for any creative practice is a dormant period. Kate Northrup, author of the book “Do Less: A Revolutionary Approach to Time & Energy,” talks about the importance of this. There is a concept she calls “the Fertile Void.” It is “the creative phase where we rest, hang out in the unknown, re-evaluate, lay fallow, and pause.”

So lean into the awkwardness. Be still for a while.

Slow down and be intentional about it. Make sure to include various kinds of rest in your schedule: quality sleep, adequate breaks, time away from the screen, and non-creative activities.

It seems counterintuitive — doing nothing to be productive. But much like in agriculture, this inactive time is necessary to regroup and prepare for the next growing season — or your next round of creativity. The stillness is not useless, but rather, it provides space for boredom and daydreaming. Your creative juices need time to collect again.

“Deep, true creativity doesn’t emerge despite the deep pause; it emerges because of it.” — Kate Northrup

The natural creative process requires an ebb and flow of productivity, then rest, productivity, then rest. Accept that there is a time and season for everything, and the ebbs are part of it all.

Flow Means Growth

I could not end this without encouraging you to continue your pursuit of flow, because flow leads to incredible personal growth and development.

Csikszentmihalyi says that in order for a person to grow, two psychological processes need to happen which make you more complex: differentiation and integration. After experiencing flow, a person levels up. “The self becomes more differentiated as a result of flow because overcoming a challenge inevitably leaves a person feeling more capable, more skilled. …more of a unique individual, less predictable, possessed of rarer skills.”

There is also a unification that happens in you: “Flow helps to integrate the self... Thoughts, intention, feelings, and all the senses are focused on the same goal. Experience is in harmony. And when the flow episode is over, one feels more ‘together’ than before, not only internally but also with respect to other people and to the world in general.”

Flow is a phenomenon that indicates you are indeed able to be present in the process, lost in pure enjoyment of what you’re doing. Flow is the gateway to jujitsu-kan, to a sense of fulfillment, to finding what you were meant to do.

In Closing: Time to Put it into Practice

If we can achieve more time in flow-state, the hope is it will translate to better work and, more importantly, greater satisfaction in your creative process. Paradoxically, getting into effortless creative flow is a highly intentional practice. There are elements outside our control, so accept the ups and downs as part of the process and be at peace with the natural tides in your experience. However, what we do for our creative practice is within our control. So assess your current behaviors and adjust them to foster the right conditions for flow. Make it a point to do the mental work needed to counter neuroticism, the biggest sabotager to flow. Set up your rituals. Feed your creative process with new inputs and challenges, hone your skills for the joy of it, and never stop growing in your curiosity. Last but not least, convince yourself again and again to stubbornly pursue this wonderful feeling, because it will bring out the best in you and be worth it every time.

‍