Csikszentmihalyi's "Flow" books?

[Merlin Mann]

I'd like to pick up one of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's books. I've read a
few articles about "flow," and leafed through a library copy of
_Creativity : Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention_
(feeling a bit like I'd arrived in the middle of a conversation).

Anyone familiar with his work that can suggest the best place to start?
Am I right to guess _Flow: the Psychology of Optimal Experience_ is the
starting point or is there something better for a novice?

TIA.

[Michael Grant]

On Jan 22, 2005, at 11:05 AM, Merlin Mann wrote:

> Anyone familiar with his work that can suggest the best place to start?
> Am I right to guess _Flow: the Psychology of Optimal Experience_ is the
> starting point or is there something better for a novice?

That's the only one I've read. To be honest, I was a little
disappointed. I suppose it was worth reading, but I didn't really get
any ideas from it that I was able to apply to my own self-management.
You might want to spend 20 minutes with it over a cuppa joe at Barnes &
Noble before buying it.

Michael


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[Ben Cromwell]

I've got both Flow and Creativity, and I agree, they're kinda
dissatisfying from the point of view of trying to implement stuff in
your own work. It's fascinating material, but in my view tries very
hard to assert its status as academic psychology, maybe to avoid being
sneered at as "self-help"...

I know it's not what you asked, but I'd recommend the books of Martin
Seligman, one of Csikszentmihalyi's colleagues - also "positive
psychology" and centrally concerned with "flow", but somehow much more
open to implementation. The one I have right here is Authentic
Happiness, but there are lots of others...

Ben

[StephanF]

I have read Flow, though none of the others.
He is an academic and it shows up in his writing style. It isn't bad
just you have to dig out the meat. This isn't a book you can read
casually and expect to get the most out of.
I found it quite valuable in helping creating a better use of my time
during the day.

Here is what I got out of it.
To create the conditions of flow you need to balance your skill with
the challenge.
1) A challenging activity that requires skill.
2) An environment that allows us to concentrate on the activity.
3) Clear goals for completing the task.
4) Immediate feedback.
5) Concentration on the task at hand.
(the rest are indicators of flow state)
6) A feeling of control in doing the task.
7) Losing self-consciousness.
8) A lose of time sense.

I try to set aside a 2-3 hour block of time for flow time. Preferably
in the morning and before reading email.

I have gotten into flow state several times and it is a highly
productive state, but it seems more fragile compared to being in the
zone while playing a game. Little distractions can knock me out of it
fairly easily.

Hope that helps.

[jordano...@gmail.com]

StephanF took the words out of my keyboard - that's basically the
Cliff's Notes version of Flow.

For more self-helpish practical stuff, he has a book called "Finding
Flow", which is geared more toward the application of Flow to everyday
life.

However, don't be bashing Flow :P it's one of the great psychology
books out there dealing with the human experience and how one can make
the most out of it - its just much more a book about "this is the way
it is and this is why I think so" rather than a practical how-to.
The short-short-short version is just "make everything into a game".

[Bryan Ewbank]

Have others experienced Flow? I know that I do experience this
sometimes when coding - the keyboard is gone, and the words flow
directly to the screen, and the code works the first time(!).

Trying to explain it to coworkers tends to lead to people looking at
you as if they really want to find a straight-jacket...

[Allan Baruz]

_Finding Flow_ would be the less academic, more applied version of
Csikszentmihalyi's ideas.

The conversation into whose middle you had arrived is the field of
cognitive psychology.

Allan

[StephanF]

You might want them to read this
http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?MentalStateCalledFlow
or at least use some of those examples to explain the effect.
You could also call it super productivity mode.

[tttopaz]

I experience "flow" most when I am playing competitive sports, but I
also experience it in other aspects of my life (e.g., writing a legal
brief). Basically, it is a feeling that I am totally focused on what I
am doing, everything seems to come smoothly and easily, and I lose track
of time. If you ask someone if they ever participated in an activity
they enjoyed so much that they lost all track of time, chances are the
answer will be yes -- and that is what they call flow....

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