The state of “flow” or “zone” is a unique concept that you might have experience with, but do not know about it. Sometimes, when you are coding you lose the sense of time and what is happening around you. Does this sound familiar? If so, that was you being in “flow.”

My goal in this post is to go over what is the state of flow, how flow can benefit you, and some of the challenges to achieving flow.

What is “Flow”?

The psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi recognized and named the psychological concept of flow, which is a highly focused mental state. According to Dr. Csikszentmihalyi, “In positive psychology, flow, also known as zone, is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full environment, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does.”

Prerequisites

In order to achieve flow, your skill level and the challenge must be similar. If the task is too boring, then you cannot reach flow. However, if your skill is inadequate, then your stress level goes up preventing flow until you have learned enough.

Mental state in terms of challenge level and skill level, according to Csikszentmihalyi’s flow model.

Example of High Flow Activities

• Dancing
• Sports
• Chess
• Reading
• Music
• Rock Climbing
• Coding

Benefits of Flow in Software Development

One of the best feelings for a software developer is when they spend most of the day in flow. They feel passionate about their work and have a high job satisfaction. They are also learning and improving their skills. Aside from how being in a state of flow leaves the person feeling good, the output is also positive. You will be surprised by how much work you can do while you are in a state of flow.

Signs of People in Flow

Not everyone shows the same behaviors while they are in flow, but many will share similarities. Here is a list of some behaviors while people are in flow:

• They do not notice when people are around them
• They are not very talkative during lunch and may seem absent-minded (probably figuring out a problem they are facing)
• They seem like they are really into what they are doing so much that they do not have interest in the physical world around them

Challenges

Achieving and maintaining a state of flow is not easy with so many distractions surrounding you. Here are some of the difficulties you may encounter when trying to getting into flow.

Going Off Track

You can easily get off track, so you should set clear goals to minimize this problem. Go slow and check periodically that you are still on track towards your goal.

Open Office Space

It is difficult to achieve flow in most open office space layout because there are too many distractions to allow you to concentrate. One way to combat open office space is to wear headphones (ideally with noise canceling) to eliminate as much noise as possible. It also will help if you establish rules with your colleague when it is okay for them to talk to you. A simple one is when your headphones are on you do not want to be disturb.

Technical Debts

The output you create while you are in flow may lead to technical debts. While you are in flow, you have a tendency to do the first thing that comes to your mind. This is usually bad because if you did think about what you are doing, you would have immediately realized future problems. To limit technical debts, while you are in flow, slow down and consider what some of the consequences are.

Communicating to Others About Interruptions

Communicating to others (especially non-technical people) about not interrupting you when you are in flow is difficult. If you explain to them with technical terms, there is a high chance they will not understand. Instead, you can try to explain with an analogy that many people will understand.

I like the analogy about how flow is like sleep. It takes you a few minutes to fall asleep. A few seconds of interruption makes you start all over again.

Flow is similar because it takes some time to get into focus mode. It takes a while to get back into focus mode when you are interrupted even for a few seconds. The worst part is that you end up forgetting half of what you are doing.

I hope this post helps you have a better understanding of flow. If so, share it with others so they can benefit too.

Do you normally do your best work while in flow? Do you have difficulty getting into flow or maintaining flow?

Let me know by leaving a comment or send me an email at steven@brightdevelopers.com. To stay in touch, you can follow me on Twitter.