To best facilitate flow, there are a few things you should keep in mind while picking an activity. Sometimes, it can be difficult to find something that gives you flow, just keep trying! Sometimes you may not even realize when flow is happening. The tips below are here to guide you in incorporating flow into your life.
These are research-based tips on how to best experience your flow; remember, do what works for you!
- Find activities that interest you personally! It is helpful if these activities do not result in an external reward, but rather are intrinsically interesting to you.
- Be sure your skills are able to meet the challenges of the task. If skills are not able to meet the challenges, research suggests individuals will experience anxiety. Conversely, if challenges do not meet skills, research indicates individuals will experience boredom. It is most optimal to find the “sweet spot” where challenges and skills meet
- Find an activity that has meaning to you. Research suggests that individuals can find most flow when the task is meaningful and relevant to them.
- Overall, research suggests that activities which enable flow often require more effort than other pleasurable activities, however have longer lasting effects on well-being and happiness.