Are you struggling to stay focused on your study? Are assessments taking forever for you to submit? We can all feel unmotivated at times, but if you’re in a rut, reaching a flow state may be the key to finally graduating. When people are in a flow state, they have ninja-like focus and everything but the task at hand falls away.

What is a Flow State?

Flow is best known in positive psychology as being in the ‘zone’. It’s an intense mediative state of complete concentration. If you’ve ever been lost in an activity to the point where you simply lose track of time, you’ve probably experienced a flow state.

Originally named by Hungarian-American psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his classic book, Flow is a powerful state-of-mind where you are highly productive and feel amazing.

Flow in Education & e-Learning 

In the British Journal of Educational Technology, authors Rodriguez-Ardura and Meseguer-Artola published a paper, Flow in e-learning: What drives it and why it matters, which sought to explain why some people achieve flow and how it impacts online learning.

The research, gathered from questionnaires and behavioural data, showed that flow states are brought about by an e-learners’ sense of control over their education, attention to the learning activity and feelings of physically being in the learning space.

Evidence suggests the benefits of flow states include:

• Facilitating positive emotions in the learner.
• Enhancing academic performance.
• Persistence with e-learning.

So, if you’re studying or writing assessments, a flow state should have you powering through your online course, actively learning new material, all while enjoying the process. Sounds perfect, right? But how do I get into this flow state, you ask?

1. Switch Off to Tune In

We’re bombarded by distractions on a multitude of platforms every day. The age of distraction makes for fragmented bursts of concentration, which isn’t what’s conducive to flow states.

Research shows it takes between 10 to 15 minutes of concentration to enter a flow state. So, to truly achieve flow, you need to switch off completely. That means putting your phone on Focus mode (or in another room) to avoid distractions.

Many apps will help you switch off, such as Forest – Your Focus Motivation, which actually enables you to grow and plant trees!

2. Clear Your Mind 

Whether journaling in the mornings after breakfast, writing lists or spending half an hour meditating – it’s best to start studying with your mind clear of daily concerns. If the concern doesn’t concern the task at hand, get it out of your head before you begin.

3. Perform a Ritual 

It’s helpful to cue your brain to enter a flow state by performing a type of ritual.

You might light a scented candle (cinnamon, rosemary, and lemon are all scents that aid concentration and calm, which may assist in the transition to flow), drink a particular herbal tea or repeat a specific affirmation.

It doesn’t matter what the ritual is, as long as you perform it every time you want to enter a flow state.

4. Work When You’re Most Energised 

If you start studying when you’re tired, it’s much harder to enter a flow state. You need to determine when you’re most alert. Are you an early bird, or do you burn the midnight oil? We all have times of peak productivity throughout the day, so try to identify your biological peak time. Otherwise, you’re fighting a losing battle.

5. Listen to Motivating Music

Music is highly motivating but chooses wisely. It seems music with lyrics can be distracting for most people, especially when trying to achieve a flow state requiring intense focus and learning.

In research from the Psychology of Music, software developers experienced more positive moods, better quality of work and improved efficiency when listening to music. The study also notes a learning curve for participants using music to alter their moods.

Research also shows that classical tunes are the ultimate focus music (you might have heard of the Mozart Effect). Listening to classical music when you study arouses the brain, making it easier to absorb new information. Further, classical music has been found to help students perform 12 per cent better on exams.

6. Focus on One Study Subject

You’ll need to begin your work with a clear direction or subject to study. If you’re trying to focus on too many things at once, it’s impossible to achieve a state of flow.

Similarly, switching between tasks will interrupt your flow. So, set your intentions before you sit down to achieve a goal. Do you want to study a specific subject? Do you want to complete an assessment?

7. Challenging, But Not Difficult

If you want to achieve flow, don’t choose a topic or subject that’s too difficult. You’ll need to feel sufficiently challenged but not frustrated or stressed by the task at hand. Equally, the task shouldn’t be so easy that it induces boredom, as both will prevent you from entering a flow state.

8. What Are You Drinking? 

Caffeine is the ultimate stimulant and a popular one. Author of Hyperfocus: How to Work Less to Achieve More, Chris Bailey, maintains that coffee is serious productivity and focus booster!

But don’t drink more than two cups if you want to go with the flow! Apparently, after 200 mg of caffeine (about two cups of coffee), the ability to focus starts to wear off, and in excess of 400 mg can induce anxiety.

Hydration stations – make sure you have many if you want hyperfocus. Being hydrated is paramount to concentrating and focusing – cornerstones of the flow state. Your brain consists of 75 per cent water, so think of water as the fuel to power your flow. Drink at least eight glasses of water every day.

9. Have a Clear Study Outcome

 You must consciously and purposefully set your intentions before beginning your study or assessments. If you’re not sure where you’re headed, how can you confidently reach your destination – flow! Make a plan for how much you want to learn or achieve in the work session, and then, and only then, begin.

Autotelic Personality Type & Flow

Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of an autotelic personality is derived from his flow model. And while flow research has primarily focused on flow as a motivational state, Csikszentmihalyi and colleagues also suggested the idea of an autotelic personality.

The autotelic personality is the “flow personality”, which describes a person who actively seeks challenges and flow experiences. They have a more remarkable ability to begin, maintain, and enjoy flow experiences.

So, how do you know if you have an autotelic personality? According to Csikszentmihalyi, applied to personality, autotelic denotes an individual who generally does things for their own sake, rather than in order to achieve some later external goal. And the mark of the autotelic personality is the ability to manage a rewarding balance between the ‘play’ of challenge finding and the ‘work’ of skill-building.

 

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