How To Get ‘In The Zone’ For Productivity While Working From Home
Image via Shutterstock
As you work from home during the coronavirus pandemic, you might face some obstacles, whether it’s adjusting to the new routine or staying on top of your tasks.
Researchers have found that people who manage to enter a “flow state” can switch from restlessness to work efficiently. This hyper-focused period of activity can offer many benefits, including enhanced productivity. The good news is that it’s not rocket science to achieve it, so read on to learn more about the flow state.
What is the flow state?
Hungarian-American scientist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi defined the term in his book, Flow: The Psychology of Happiness, as the “concentration [that] is so intense that no attention is left over to think about anything irrelevant or to worry about problems. Self-consciousness disappears, and the sense of time becomes distorted.”
This phenomenon, often recognized as being “in the zone,” sparks total absorption and effortless attention to the task you are doing.
The challenge and skills ratio
The best way for you to get into the flow state would be to start with an activity that strikes the right balance between its level of difficulty and your abilities.
Giovanni Moneta, an academic psychologist at London Metropolitan University, advises people to partake in meaningful activities that are challenging. However, you should also feel that you have the required skills for the work to come out as a winner.
Basically, the work has to be difficult enough to get you concentrated, but not too challenging to cause undesired tension.
Heightened productivity
Once you eliminate distractions and immerse yourself in the right task, you’ll find yourself working from one agenda to another.
In Csikszentmihalyi’s 2004 TED talk, he shared that this intense focus “leads to a sense of ecstasy, [and] a sense of clarity, [so] you know exactly what you want to do from one moment to the other, [giving] you get immediate feedback.”
Feelings of gratification
A study in 2010 explored the psychophysiology of flow during piano playing and found that classical pianists showed “deepened breathing and slowed heart rates. Even the facial muscles that enable us to smile were activated.”
American author Steven Kotler described the flow as a “happy accident when it happens,” and once you get the hang out it, you can become “more accident-prone.”
Though it can be exhausting to work on significant projects, the flow state often generates deep feelings of satisfaction and happiness while doing work.
To find out more, check out Csikszentmihalyi’s TED talk on the flow state below.
[via BBC, cover image via Shutterstock]
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