My favourite F-Word - Flow
The key for good mental health
It’s all about getting in the Flow.
You know the feeling when you get completely lost in an activity? You’re drawing, crocheting, cooking, reading a good book, working on a presentation, whatever. You get so into it that you lose track of time, and you realise at some point that you should probably eat something and go pee. That’s capital-F Flow.
You don’t worry about the past, you don’t worry about the future. You’re just focused on the moment.
And that, my friends, is the magic sauce!
Studies show what you can very easily experience yourself. The more situations of true Flow you are able to create in your life, the better you’ll feel. Whether this is in your work (I say death to 10-minute-tasks interrupted by constant emails and meetings!) or at home.
There are many ways we can create Flow, but of course, the best way IMHO is to get totally immersed in a creative project. Writing, building, and drawing for extended periods allows us to disconnect from the world, from our crazy monkey minds, from our worries, and just focus on what we’re doing at that moment.
And through that, we’ll become happier in the process.
Check out these great resources to dive a bit deeper into Flow and how it affects our mental health.
Ted Talk: Flow, the secret to happiness
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi asks, "What makes a life worth living?" Noting that money cannot make us happy, he looks to those who find pleasure and lasting satisfaction in activities that bring about a state of "flow."
This neglected middle child of mental health can dull your motivation and focus. And the antidote is Flow.
Maybe not exactly what you had in mind, but playing an immersive video game does the trick for me. Never looked at it from this perspective though! Thanks!