A few years ago, a group of North American psychologists took on the task of giving psychological science a facelift.
At first, it was by clinical intuition. Later, with more empirical support. The fact is, they discovered that that state that people describe as happiness is not equal to the absence of disease.
Those who aligned themselves with what came to be called Positive Psychology, understood that it is not enough to improve what is weakened.
Health and, ultimately, happiness depend on what we do to achieve it. To be happy, you have to train and learn new skills.
One of these researchers was the American psychologist Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi. He dedicated part of his life to researching Optimal Experiences or Psychological Flow (or flow). Flow is one of the most intense emotions that one can experience and is described as:
"A feeling that one's own abilities are adequate to face the challenges that are presented to us, an activity directed towards goals and regulated by norms that, in addition, offers us clear clues to know if we are doing well. Concentration is so intense that you cannot pay attention to irrelevant things (…). Self-awareness disappears, and the sense of time is distorted. "
Csikszentmihalyi, 1998
What is said is, basically, that when one is working on something that they like, passionate and interest, time flies by.
Concentration in this state is so intense that one does not feel anything that is happening around them And the sensation is very pleasant because the challenge that the task presents is great, as are our abilities to face and solve it..
Next I will tell you how you can enhance your optimal experiences in five steps, to have more and better quality.
The first thing is to discover what are those activities that motivate you the most. They can be hobbies, or some aspect of your work or academic activity.
Maybe you enjoy training in the gym or going for a run.. The key is to know for sure which tasks are worth spending time on.
While one can enjoy different types of activities, not all of them qualify for experiencing psychological flow..
The real tasks that stimulate flow are those that have a certain structure, rules that must be followed.
The key is to know what the objectives are and the methods and techniques to achieve them. Painting for the pleasure of making a few brushstrokes is not the same as doing it following a specific technique. In the second case, it is more likely to have optimal experiences.
This is so, because knowing the rules of the game and what the objectives are, they serve as hooks to keep us motivated in the activity.
On the other hand, it gives us a reference to look at to see if we are doing it well or if something needs to be corrected..
For time to fly while you are focused on the task, it needs to be challenging. How challenging? Enough.
It is in direct relation to your abilities. If it turns out that you are very skilled and the challenges very few, the consequence is that you are going to get bored.
Whereas if the demand for the activity is above what you can afford to do, you will become frustrated or anxious.. An activity that stimulates the optimal experience has an adequate balance between both factors.
If the preconditions are already met, it would be natural for you to easily focus on the activity in question.
It may happen, however, that you cannot hold your attention for long. In that case, you will need to train your ability to focus and concentrate on what you are doing. This can be done with relaxation or meditation techniques.. Anxiety is bad company for flow.
Finally, it is of great importance that you do not miss the signals that the activity sends you about your performance.
What we do or what we produce, particularly if we do it with specific techniques, give us clues to discover if we are doing it properly or not..
To keep motivation high and for our optimal experience to flow, we need to pay attention to these keys..
With proper feedback, we will be able to correct our course if we are not doing well or to continue the march in case we are on the right track.
As a consequence of this, you should have the feeling that time flies by, without becoming aware of what is happening around you, not even much of your own internal states. Along with this should come a feeling of control from you over the situation.
In short, an activity of these characteristics, although not inherently pleasant, allows us to enjoy what we are doing. It is a class of tasks that, by doing them, allow us to be grateful that we are alive and that, finally, bring us closer to what we call happiness.
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