This video goes over the concept of Flow. Characteristics of this state include:
One, an intense and focused concentration on the present moment
Two, a merging of action and awareness
Three, a loss of reflective self-consciousness
Four, a sense of personal control or agency over the situation or activity
Five, a distortion of temporal experience. This just means that one experiences time in a different way than normal, either longer or shorter than what actually passed
Six, the goals are clear
Seven, the concern for the self disappears
Eight, the individual gets immediate feedback
Flow is an experience you enjoy in itself. But there are other things that make it so valuable. The statistics I'm about to tell you are from a Flow and Peak performance PDF by Steven Kotler, an expert in flow psychology and part of the Flow Genome Project, a project that works in the advancement of the understanding of flow psychology.
One study found that top executives are 500 percent more productive in the flow state. Another found Snipers in flow learned 200-500 percent faster than normal. Creativity gets a 700 percent boost. This state is pretty easy to get into if you have the right conditions.
Well, flow theory has an answer to that. Think about your skill level of a particular activity going from low to high, you are a novice an amateur, or an expert at this activity. Now put that against the challenge of the activity, one that is either easy, medium, or hard. Flow psychologists suggest that when the levels of both match, then we can enter the flow state. To attain flow, the activity also has to meet two other criteria: clear goals and progress, as well as immediate feedback. So there's three conditions to create a flow state: matched skill level and challenge level, clear goals, and immediate feedback.
Those are psychological triggers, Steven Kotler also identifies three other categories of triggers: environmental, social, and creative.
Environmental triggers include a rich environment, meaning a combination of novelty, unpredictability, and or complexness. High consequences or risks is another trigger. This is probably the easiest if you can create it. Snowboarding with an avalanche behind you will trigger this more than using the bunny slopes. The last environmental trigger is called deep embodiment, which is total physical awareness.
The next class is social triggers and usually creates group flow. Think of the comeback fourth quarter in football. These include serious concentration, shared clear goals, good communication, equal participation, an element of risk (mental or physical), and familiarity. These ones are all pretty self-explanatory. There are also blending egos- everyone is thoroughly involved and nobody is hogging the spotlight.
A sense of control and close listening are two others. The last trigger is when interactions between members are additive more than argumentative.
Creativity is the last trigger category.This is a combination of pattern recognition and risk taking. Think differently and come at problems from unique angles. Kotler's PDF: