On the mental state of “flow” termed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, he offers somewhat of a map to reach to state of flow, with boredom and anxiety being feelings along the way (almost prerequisites?).
Chris Bailey shared a chart from the Flow book. In his own words, it’s a bit hard to understand.
Here’s a simpler table to help guide you to flow state (sorry about words wrapping in the cells):
| How are you feeling? | Bored | Anxious | Flow |
| So, do this: | Turn off distractions | Turn off distractions! | Keep distractions turned off |
| Increase your challenge | Improve your skills | Keep Growing |
Essentially:
- Turn off distractions
- Increase the challenges you’re facing
- Improve your skills so you can take on larger challenges
- Make use of the flow mental state to create your best work