“I was watching you, unaware that watching you was watching me.” This bit describes the flow mode experience most beautifully. When you engage in something exciting and enjoyable to you and don’t pay attention to the passage of time or what is happening around you, you are experiencing the state of flu or drowning. In this article, we will examine from a psychological point of view what the flow is, why it occurs, and whether it is possible to create this state to perform daily tasks consciously.
What is flu?
The American Psychological Association has provided a brief and helpful definition of flu:
The state of flow is the deep experience of engaging in a pleasurable activity.
Features of drowning or flu
- Skill-challenge balance: Immersive tasks are challenging and mind-numbing but not so hard that you can’t handle them.
- Combining Action and Awareness: Your full attention is on what you are doing.
- Clear goals: You know exactly what to do.
- Focus: You are focused only on what you are doing.
- Sense of control: You feel responsible for what happens during the work.
- Ignoring the passage of time: Time passes quickly for you, and you do not pay attention to its course.
- Intrinsic passion: You do it for the joy you get from it, not for the encouragement of others or the result.
Usually, when immersed in something you are interested in and are good at. When experiencing drowning, you may not have all these symptoms or share some less and others more. This experience is usually created in creative activities such as painting or writing or sports such as tennis, skiing, or horse riding.
Causes of flu or drowning
Although the flu theory was proposed decades ago, the neuroscience research conducted in this field is new; scientists still do not know precisely what causes the flu condition in the brain and have not found any scientific evidence.
According to one of the hypotheses proposed in 2004, when a person is engrossed in a task, the activity of a part of the frontal cortex of his brain, which is related to critical and self-controlling activities, decreases, and the person performs his tasks automatically. According to this hypothesis, drowning mode is something like autopilot capability.
Another hypothesis is that neurotransmitters cause flu. When entirely focused on something and immersed in it, your body releases dopamine and norepinephrine. Dopamine rewards you for continuing to do work and creates a sense of satisfaction and happiness, and norepinephrine gives you the necessary energy to continue working and focusing. As a result, your brain continues its focused activity and reaches the flu state. Neuroscientists say more research is needed to find the exact cause and understand the flu condition.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of flu mode?
Immersion in work feels good and brings satisfaction, but too much immersion can be harmful. In the following, we will examine the advantages and disadvantages of flow mode.
Flu benefits
When immersed in work, you live in the moment, don’t get involved in irrelevant past and future thoughts or mental jumps, and feel good. Of course, scientists believe that the positive effect of the flu is short-lived and wears off after a while, but this effect may be the start of the positive feeling you need for your mental health.
According to research, flow mode is also helpful in dealing with critical situations. During the Corona quarantine period, 5115 Chinese residents participated in a survey. The result of the study was that drowning in favorite activities of people has reduced the stress of quarantine. People who were busy with work during this period were less likely to commit unhealthy behaviors such as drinking alcohol or smoking.
Other advantages of flow mode include:
- feeling happy and satisfied;
- increasing the ability to control and manage emotions ;
- creating internal motivation ;
- increasing efficiency and improving performance;
- Improve learning, creativity, and skills development.
Disadvantages of flu
The disadvantages of flu become apparent when you indulge in unhealthy activities. People addicted to computer games, social networks, or even excitement experience drowning when doing these things. When immersed in a harmful action, your brain no longer pays attention to its dangers, risks, and negative aspects and only looks for the pleasure and satisfaction you get from doing it. For example, people who experience the flu while doing dangerous sports may take more significant risks day by day and eventually injure themselves.
What is the difference between flow mode and hyperfocus?
Hyperfocus is one of the symptoms of ADHD in adults. Flow mode and hyperfocus have many standard features, and in both, a person is immersed in his favorite work, ignores the surrounding environment, and does not notice the passage of time.
Hyperfocus means too much concentration that brings negative results. When you engage in hyperfocus, you continue to do one task for a long time. Hyperfocus is a type of negativity that disrupts your life and requires psychological or drug treatment. People with hyperactivity usually experience hyperfocus when they are busy doing their favorite work.
Flu mode disrupts your life and improves your mental health and performance by creating positive emotions and self-satisfaction. Flow or overwhelm can happen to any activity that challenges your mind, appeals to you, or is rewarding. Flow is a form of immersion in work positively and effectively.
How do you get to drowning?
According to some research, the creation of flu is not optional and depends on personality and other uncontrollable factors. Of course, experts and psychologists who research this state of mind offer recommendations to increase the form of flu or drowning, the most important of which we have mentioned below.
1. Eliminate distractions
When you’re busy doing something, if you’re constantly distracted by notifications on your phone, or stop every few minutes to pour yourself a cup of tea or coffee, you’ll never go into flu mode. To get immersed in something, you must consciously focus the first few minutes and stay committed to doing the work. Distraction interferes with your concentration and commitment process and does not allow you to immerse yourself in the work.
2. Set specific goals
You can’t get into flow if you pause in the middle of a task to figure out what to do next. Before starting work, define the activities you need to do and the goals you need to achieve. Then start working and don’t stop. When there is no pause and the concentration continues, you will gradually become immersed in your work and will not notice the passage of time.
3. Challenge yourself
Find the limit of your skills and go one step beyond it. If what you are doing is too simple, it will become dull, and time will pass slowly for you. If your task is too tricky and you have not yet acquired the necessary skills to complete it, you will also become anxious and unable to concentrate. The limit creates the balance between these two states of flow. Choose a challenging task you can solve.
4. Use previous flows
If you have already been immersed in work and have had the flu, repeat this experience. For example, if you forget the passage of time when you are working out in the gym and are immersed in doing sports, repeat this consciously and enjoy the good feeling of being engaged in your favorite work.5. Practice meditation and mindfulness
Meditation focuses your senses and helps you get into a flow state. Mindfulness also means living in the present moment. When your mind is busy with thoughts about the past and future, turn your attention to the present moment and the events that are going on now. According to research, regular mindfulness practice has helped athletes experience flow during their workouts and perform better.Flow is a part of mindfulness and it helps you live fully in the present moment and get away from regrets about the past and worry about the future.
last word
In this article, we explained the flow state and how to achieve it. When immersed in something, you no longer think about the outcome and enjoy doing it. That’s why you feel good during and after work and want to experience this state again.
What do you do to experience the flu? Tell us about your experience in the comments section.
