
Flow. In The Zone. Focus. On Fire.
You’ve heard of it. Probably about a basketball player.
That feeling when you are so focused on a task — or music or game — that everything clicks perfectly. Distractions slide into the background, you are getting things done, almost effortlessly. You and the object of your attention are one.
Yes, it’s a bit hippy-dippy but I think there is some truth in there.
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I’ve been fascinated by this for years and especially while and after reading (hardest name on planet Earth coming) Mihály Csíkszentmihályi’s book Flow.
It strikes me — flow that is — most often when I’m doing some super-focused computer work or while listening to a very interesting podcast (for example, one of Russ Roberts’s EconTalk episodes).
It feels exhilarating! I almost feel invincible in that brief moment. I’d love to have more of it, but alas it is fleeting.
When do you feel it? What gets you into flow?