"Flow is that magic state you enter when you lose yourself in a task. Some people get it while skiing or sailing or biking. You are completely in the moment-challenged and absorbed. You're not thinking really, you're doing and being. You don't need to think about what to do-it just happens. Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi coined the word "flow" to describe a highly focused, highly pleasurable mental state."
"Adults often experience this doing absorbing work they truly enjoy. Adolescents most often experience it in leisure, in sports, engaging in the arts, or playing video games. Csikszentmihalyi called this emotional experience flow. What we feel in flow is not pleasure, per se. According to Richard Huskey, "when people feel flow, ... their thoughts are focused on an experience rather than on themselves." They experience the activity they are engaged in as intrinsically rewarding-losing themselves in the experience."
Flow is a highly focused, deeply engaging mental state that arises when task challenges match an individual's skills. People report greatest positive affect during periods of intense concentration and often lose track of time and self-conscious thought. Adults commonly encounter flow while doing absorbing work they enjoy, while adolescents experience flow more in leisure activities such as sports, the arts, or video games. Flow feels intrinsically rewarding rather than merely pleasurable. Experience-sampling research that queried people repeatedly throughout the day found consistent links between concentrated engagement and elevated well-being.
Read at Psychology Today
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