How do we get into a ‘flow’ and what are its primary symptoms?
The following is taken from J.T Velikoski’s paper Flow Theory, Evolution and Creativity: or, ‘Fun and Games’, summarising Csikszentmihalyi (1975).
1- Clear goals every step of the way
2- Immediate feedback to actions
3- Balance between challenge and skill
4- Action and awareness merge
5- Distractions are excluded from consciousness
6- There is no worry of failure
7- Self-consciousness disappears
8- Sense of time becomes distorted
9- Eventually, the activity becomes autotelic: “the overall experience is enjoyable as an activity, in and of itself” (Velikoski p2)
That’s what we’re all chasing.
Page from my 2014 autobio comic '1994'