The flow

Psychology

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One of the aspects identified by positive psychologists, eminently Seligman, as essential to a good and happy life is a sense of satisfaction. This can be more than just the satisfying feeling of completing something successfully. It was psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi who coined the term “the flow” to describe the state of absorbed attention experienced when completely engaged with a task.

Completely losing yourself into what you’re doing, or finding “flow” is more a state of euphoria than simple happiness or contentedness. This is not just a thing we enjoy doing, but instead an activity that demands our complete attention. When we are in this state of mind, we lose track of ourselves and what’s happening around us and instead find ourselves in another state of consciousness where we feel a sense of peace and timelessness. In this altered state of being, while we are completely focused on whatever task we happen to be working on, we also feel a sense of inner clarity and understanding.

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