What is a flow state?

Have you ever looked up from building a massive Lego spaceship or reading a fantastic book and realized two whole hours just vanished into thin air? Where did the time go?! Join Mira and Finn on this episode of Philosophy is Not Boring as they uncover the incredible psychological secret behind our absolute best moments! We are diving into the mind of famous psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced Me-high Cheek-sent-me-high!), who wanted to know what makes people truly happy. By studying painters, champion chess players, and rock climbers, he discovered a magic brain zone called "Flow." When you are in a flow state, your worries completely disappear, and you feel like you are being carried along by a rushing river! But how do we get there on purpose? You will learn the exact recipe for flow, including finding the perfect "Goldilocks" level of difficulty—not too easy so you get bored, and not too hard so you get miserable. Get ready to learn how to unlock your brain's ultimate superpower!

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Philosophy is not boring by kidopoly.com. I'm Mira. And I'm Finn. Finn? Have you ever looked up at the clock, expecting it to say 3 o'clock, but it actually says 5 o'clock?

SPEAKER_01 0:13

Yes, and you have absolutely no idea where those two hours went. They just vanished into thin air.

SPEAKER_00 0:20

Exactly. It happens to all of us. But what is actually going on in our brains when that happens? Today, we are looking at a huge discovery in psychology about our absolute best moments.

SPEAKER_01 0:33

So we're going to figure out where the vanishing hours go.

SPEAKER_00 0:36

We are. We're going to explore that magic zone where the clock disappears and figure out how to get there on purpose.

SPEAKER_01 0:43

I know exactly what you mean by hours vanishing. Like when I am building a huge Lego spaceship and mum calls me for dinner and I'm like, wait, already? I'm not even hungry yet.

SPEAKER_00 0:55

Right. You completely lose yourself. Or when you're reading a really, really good book and you don't even hear someone calling your name.

SPEAKER_01 1:04

Yeah, it's like the rest of the world just pauses. But then when I'm waiting in line at the grocery store, five minutes feels like five years. Why is time so stretchy?

SPEAKER_00 1:15

That is such a good question. A famous psychologist wanted to understand exactly that. His name was Mihai Chick Sent Mihai. Wait, say that name again? It is a wonderful long Hungarian name. The trick to pronouncing his last name is Mihai Cheek Sent Mihai.

SPEAKER_01 1:36

Mihai Cheek Sent Mihai. I like it. Who was he?

SPEAKER_00 1:41

He was a thinker who grew up in Europe during World War II. He saw a lot of suffering, and after the war ended, he noticed that a lot of adults around him just couldn't seem to find happiness again. That is sad, they forgot how to be happy. Exactly. So when he grew up, he decided he didn't just want to study what goes wrong in people's minds. He wanted to study what goes right. What makes life actually worth living? Did he figure it out? He did, and his answer changed psychology forever. He started by observing painters in their messy studios, and he noticed something incredibly weird. What was weird about the painters? When a painter was working on a canvas, they were completely obsessed. They would paint for hours and hours. They wouldn't stop to eat, they wouldn't sleep, they were totally zeroed in.

SPEAKER_01 2:35

I get that. When you're making something cool, you really want to see how it turns out. You want the finished painting.

SPEAKER_00 2:42

That is exactly what you would think. But Mihai noticed that when the painting was finally done, the painter didn't even care about it. They would just set it in a corner and immediately start a blank canvas.

SPEAKER_01 2:56

Wait, huh? If they didn't care about the painting, why did they work so hard on it?

SPEAKER_00 3:02

That was the puzzle. The goal wasn't the finished painting. The goal was the feeling of painting, the act itself. Mihai realised these artists were entering a very special state of mind.

SPEAKER_01 3:16

A state of mind where time disappears.

SPEAKER_00 3:18

Yes. He started interviewing other people who did intense things. He talked to champion chess players, rock climbers scaling huge cliffs, and even surgeons. Did they all feel the same way? They did. They all described the exact same feeling. They said when they were doing their favourite thing, their worries vanished. One person said it felt like being carried along by a rushing river. Oh, like flowing water. Exactly. So Mihai officially named this state of mind flow. It is the state where you are so completely absorbed in an activity that everything else, even your sense of who you are, just falls away.

SPEAKER_01 4:02

I definitely want that feeling all the time. But I don't feel flow when I'm doing my spelling homework. Is there a way to turn it on?

SPEAKER_00 4:09

There isn't a simple button you can press, but Mahali discovered that there is a precise recipe for flow. You need a few specific ingredients.

SPEAKER_01 4:19

Okay, I have my mental mixing bowl ready. What is the first ingredient?

SPEAKER_00 4:25

The first ingredient is having a clear goal and getting quick feedback. You need to know exactly what you are trying to do, and you need to know immediately if it is working.

SPEAKER_01 4:36

Like when I play football. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 4:45

If you kicked a ball into the fog and had no idea where it went, you couldn't get into flow. But here is the most important ingredient. The task has to be the perfect Goldilocks level of difficulty. What does that mean? Let's test it out. Finn, imagine you are playing a racing video game against a toddler who doesn't even know how to hold the controller.

SPEAKER_01 5:10

Haha, that would be incredibly boring. I would win in two seconds without even looking at the screen.

SPEAKER_00 5:16

Right. When a task is way too easy for your skill level, you don't get flow. You just get bored. Now, imagine you are playing against the adult world champion of that game.

SPEAKER_01 5:31

I wouldn't even make it past the starting line. I would be super frustrated.

SPEAKER_00 5:36

Yes, when a task is way too hard, you get anxious and miserable. So, where does flow live? It must live right in the middle.

SPEAKER_01 5:46

Not too easy, not too hard.

SPEAKER_00 5:48

Exactly right. Flow lives in the pocket where the challenge is just a tiny bit harder than what you can comfortably do. It forces you to stretch your skills to the absolute limit.

SPEAKER_01 6:01

Ooh, so it has to be hard enough that my brain has to pay total attention, but not so hard that I feel like giving up.

SPEAKER_00 6:08

Yes! And this is why Miha's discovery is so incredibly useful for our actual lives. Think about how you can use this recipe on purpose.

SPEAKER_01 6:18

Like if I am practicing a song on the guitar and I feel totally bored, I don't need to quit.

SPEAKER_00 6:25

Right! You just need to make it a tiny bit harder. You could try playing the song a little faster, or try learning a chord you have never played before.

SPEAKER_01 6:35

And if I am doing a really hard maths worksheet and I feel completely frustrated and miserable, that means the challenge is too high.

SPEAKER_00 6:43

Exactly. You step back, take a breath, and make it a little bit easier until you find that perfect middle spot again.

SPEAKER_01 6:51

It completely changes how you see things. You aren't just stuck being bored or frustrated. You can adjust the difficulty dial yourself.

SPEAKER_00 6:59

It really is a superpower. And here is a mind-bending fun fact about flow. People usually think that if they could just sit on the couch all day doing absolutely nothing, they would be perfectly happy. But Mihai's studies showed the exact opposite. He gave people pages that beeped at random times and asked them to write down how they felt. People actually experienced much more flow and much deeper happiness when they were at work or school doing something challenging.

SPEAKER_01 7:34

Wait, really? Sitting around doing nothing doesn't make us happy.

SPEAKER_00 7:39

Nope. Our brains actually crave hard things. As long as it is the right kind of hard, a good challenge is the real secret to happiness. Alright, Finn, it's quiz time! Let's see what we remember about flow.

SPEAKER_01 7:53

Okay, my brain is ready. Let's do this.

SPEAKER_00 7:57

First question. What is the name of the famous psychologist we talked about today? Next one. What is the name of that magic zone where you are totally focused and time seems to vanish? Question three. According to the recipe for flow, should a task be way too easy, way too hard, or just a tiny bit harder than you are used to? Here's number four. What did the painters do right after they finished their paintings? Last question. If a task is way too easy, what feeling do we usually get instead of flow? Great job! Let's see how you did. The first answer is mi high cheek sent me high. Remember, it sounds like mi high cheek sent me high. For question two, that magic state of mind is called flow. Question three, the answer is it should be just a tiny bit harder than you are used to. For number four, they put it in a corner and started a brand new one. They just loved the feeling of painting. And the final answer is, we usually get totally bored.

SPEAKER_01 9:24

I'm definitely going to think about this next time I'm trying to learn a new song on my guitar.

SPEAKER_00 9:29

Me too! It's so cool that we can actually adjust how hard things are to find our own flow. If this episode put your brain in a flow state, please leave us a five-star review. Just scroll down and tap the stars. It helps so much.

SPEAKER_01 9:46

Oh, and don't forget to check out our site, kidopoly.com. We've got tons of fun learning games and activities there to challenge your brain.

SPEAKER_00 9:54

And if you want to shout out on the show or just want to tell us about a time you found your flow, email us at hello at kidopoly.com. See you next time on Philosophy is not boring. Bye, everyone.