Happiness Hack #6: Find Flow
Find Flow in 90 minute distraction free intervals for higher levels of happiness
Flow is a state where you lose track of time and your surroundings. You are so caught up in what you are doing, your brain doesn’t process unrelated outside information.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the leading expert on flow, found that people who became really absorbed in what they were doing had higher levels of happiness. The more they got into flow, the happier they were.
Flow requires challenges that push us out of our comfort zone but are not too demanding. It requires that we know enough to do the task well, but we still enjoy learning and getting better. It is an optimal experience.
1. Find a project or activity where you are confident in your abilities but it is still challenging for you.
2. Turn off all distractions – e-mail reminders, texts, instant messages, and other interruptions.
3. Work for 90 minutes without interruption and see how much you can get done.
4. Then take 15 minutes to walk around and re-energize before you start again.
The key is to not work for 10 hours straight with 12 distractions per hour. You leave work feeling tired without feeling like you accomplished anything. Find Flow in 90 minute distraction free intervals. You will be more productive and happier at the same time.
Happiness Hack #5 – Make Time to Exercise
Happiness Hack #7 – Keep a Happiness Jar
About Ray White
My Passion is helping people become successful and happy. I have found that many people want to be successful but just don’t know how. More importantly, people want to be successful because they feel that reaching some success pinnacle will result in them becoming happy. The research and my experience has shown that just the opposite is the case. Success does not lead to happiness. Happiness leads to success.
