A Flow State Can Boost Focus and Lower Stress. Here’s How to Find Yours

In the Zone: If you’ve ever lost yourself in a project — even lost track of time while doing it— you know how fulfilling a flow state can feel. Writers, artists, and musicians talk about creating in a flow state, but, according to Hungarian-American psychologist (who first introduced the idea) Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, anyone can enter a flow state. He researched intrinsic motivation by studying how artists immerse themselves in a painting for weeks, months, or longer, later shifting his focus to how athletes, chess players, surgeons, and dancers also get into flow states. Reaching a flow state creates the optimal conditions for creation and productivity. The key is that your actions and your awareness unite, resulting in singular focus and concentration, allowing you to let go of fear and self-doubt.

How to Do It: You’re more likely to lose yourself in something you enjoy doing, and it should be something that’s just challenging enough to keep it interesting. Start the work with a specific goal to keep you motivated, and focus on just one thing — multitasking is the opposite of flow. And remember to remove or shut off distractions (like your phone).

The Benefits: Beyond productivity, studies have found that flow can quiet mental noise, relax the body, reduce stress, and disrupt the loop of rumination.