Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life (Masterminds Series)

Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life (Masterminds Series) | Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi | An interesting work of social science

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Finding Flow: The ...

	Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life (Masterminds Series) Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Basic Books, 1998 - 192 pages average customer review:based on 43 reviews view larger image
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Part psychological study, part self-help book, Finding Flow is a prescriptive guide that helps us reclaim ownership of our lives. Based on a far-reaching study of thousands of individuals, Finding Flow contends that we often walk through our days unaware and out of touch with our emotional lives. Our inattention makes us constantly bounce between two extremes: during much of the day we live filled with the anxiety and pressures of our work and obligations, while during our leisure moments, we tend to live in passive boredom. The key, according to Csikszentmihalyi, is to challenge ourselves with tasks requiring a high degree of skill and commitment. Instead of watching television, play the piano. Transform a routine task by taking a different approach. In short, learn the joy of complete engagement. Thought they appear simple, the lessons in Finding Flow are life-altering.

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A Great Read for Anyone

I absolutely loved this book. It's not a self-help book by any means. It goes beyond that. There are reasons why we love or hate anything we do, and this book goes into detail to answer the great question, "Why?"

Seems like common sense, but it's not for most people. When you begin to understand why you love to do things and hate to do others, you can begin to enrich your life to enhance your overall experience on this planet.

An interesting work of social science

This book is about what makes people happy. It is not really a self-help book, or a 'mind/body/spirit' type of book, which I think has led to some confusion and disappointment on the part of some of the reviewers here. The book does not really tell you how to find flow. It simply describes what it is, and why people who regularly experience it tend to be happier than people who do not.

I like the book because it really takes the study of human happiness seriously, and it has some very interesting things to say about what makes people happy.

I agree with the author that flow states are very satisfying, and I found his understanding of the requirements for achieving flow (especially the diagram on p. 31) to be helpful and interesting. But this is probably because I already have an extremely good method for experiencing flow. Those who do not will probably find his discussion a bit difficult to follow, perhaps even frustrating.

The best way that I've found to experience the state of flow is to pay attention to your breath, breathe fully, rhyhtmically and deeply, and harmonize the rhythm of your breath with the rhythm of your activity. For example, when walking, take 8 steps as you breathe in, 8 steps as you breathe out. For more on how to actually achieve flow, see "Living from the Heart", by Puran Bair (my father).

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When you have your fastball working

If you can remember an instant in your youth when everything seemed to be going perfectly, you understand Flow. This book is a very good way to learn about Flow and work. How how to get back that felling from your past.

Slow Flow

In _Finding Flow_, Cziszentmihalyi repeats the same concepts and even a few examples used in his previous book _Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience_. He introduces the concept of "flow" as essentially the mental state in which one is inspired, challenged, focused and capable all at once. Someone experiencing "flow" frequently loses track of time and worries while being completely alert to the activities engaging them. The author uses NUMEROUS examples to prove his argument, yet his conclusions are not always convincing (for example, he dismisses the accuracy of self-reports by teenagers who claim to experience more "flow" and less happiness-- while relying on these same self-reports to claim "autotelic" (in the "flow") teenagers are more satisfied).

I suppose the book might be enlightening for those who have rarely experienced "flow" and wouldn't think to examine their experiences for it. I have been feeling less focused and less creative lately, so I was hoping to learn some new, practical strategies for improvement.

Some worthwhile points:
* Learn to re-frame your experiences so that they feel "willed" (in a healthy way)

* Examine your daily activities for the ones that show recognizable elements of flow; add more of these activities to your life, if you can, or try to turn less enjoyable activities into games

* Take interest in being disinterested. Do things for the sake of doing them, for the process and not for the result.

* Do more housework if you are a man, less if you are a woman.

Altogether, the book is rated 3 stars for a mediocre attempt at a worthwhile topic. Few examples and more analysis would have made the argument much more convincing.

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