Khaneman on flow

The following quotation comes from Daniel Kahneman (2011) Thinking, fast and slow (pp40-41)

“Fortunately, cognitive work is not always aversive, and people sometimes expend considerable effort for long periods of time without having to exert willpower.

The psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced six-cent- mihaly) has done more than anyone else to study this state of effortless attending, and the name he proposed for it, flow, has become part of the language.

People who experience flow describe it as ‘a state of effortless concentration so deep that they lose their sense of time, of themselves, of their problems,’ and their descriptions of the joy of that state are so compelling that Csikszentmihalyi has called it an ‘optimal experience’.

Many activities can induce a sense of flow, from painting to racing motorcycles – and for some fortunate authors I know, even writing a book is often an optimal experience.

Flow neatly separates the two forms of effort: concentrating on the task and the deliberate control of attention.

Riding a motorcycle at 150mph and  playing a competitive game of chess are certainly very effortful. In a state of flow, however, maintaining focused attention on these absorbing requires no exertion of self-control, thereby freeing resources to be directed to the task at hand.”

From Wikipedia;

“In positive psychology, flow, also known as the zone, is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does.

Named by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, the concept has been widely referenced across a variety of fields (and has an especially big recognition in occupational therapy), though the concept has existed for thousands of years under other guises, notably in some Eastern religions. Achieving flow is often colloquially referred to as being in the zone.”

And I have mentioned flow, zone, groove, muse at many places in this blog. Enter the keywords in the search boxes in the right and bottom margins and you might turn up something apposite.