Why can you not concentrate?
After reading the book Flow: the psychology of happiness, a few days later I took a walk to work at 6 in the morning. The pavement was rich tapestry of souvenirs left by bins that had blown in the wind, the squirrels were running frantically collecting chips with their mischievous claws and the air whispered serenity.
Now you may think, Sam you’re in Leeds a busy northern city what is with the romantic sentimentality of the dreaded morning route to work? The answer to that is the state of mind I had gained from Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s (think of cheeks send me high) enchanting work.
“You yourself are in an ecstatic state to such a point that you feel as though you almost don't exist. I've experienced this time and again. My hand seems devoid of myself, and I have nothing to do with what is happening. I just sit there watching in a state of awe and wonderment. And it just flows out by itself.”
[an except from Csikszentmihalyi’s book which describes how a profressional muscian feels when they are in the state of flow].
But what if we could enter a state of flow just when we are doing simple jobs like cleaning the house or doing low skilled jobs? Well it turns out that we can…
Here is a flow diagram, If your skills are low and challenges are high you are going to feel anxious. I know this has been the case for me, especially as I am quite the perfectionist. Often times I want to learn a new subject, my skill is very low I end up feigning concentration and having to take a few more breaks. It can take 20 hours to learn a new skill as discussed on my blog post about Josh Kaufman’s book. Paradoxically, if my skill is very high and the challenge is very low I will become bored. This can happen when you have to work a 9-5 in that is unfulfilling or have to go on a walk.
Therefore, it makes sense that the challenge needs to be increased when your skill is very high. Csikszentmihalyi offers some insight about this. In the chapter autotelic workers Csikszentmihalyi describes a man called Joe a simple welder who is fundamental to the business he works in. He could fix absolutely everything he put his mind to yet turned down multiple promotional opportunities. He just enjoyed what he did.
““The quality of experience of people who play with and transform the opportunities in their surroundings, as Joe did, is clearly more developed as well as more enjoyable than that of people who resign themselves to live within the constraints of the barren reality they feel they cannot alter.”
When I worked in a Kitchen, there was man from Romania I used to work with who was the General Manager, the highest paid person in the building. He didn’t speak much, put tasks upon people for personal gain nor did he let the power go to his head. He adopted what Csikszentmihalyi describes as an autotelic personality. When the restaurant was quiet he would sweep, wash tiles on the wall, fix broken machinery that was not his responsibility. He would not impose any inkling of resignation upon anyone. He was an example of someone of who did not resign himself to the constraints of the reality around him. He took advantage of it and let everyone respect him. Now when I clean my house, I think of his industrial ardour for cleanly perfection.
But how can this apply to something more simple such as a walk to work?
“Even the simplest physical act becomes enjoyable when it is transformed so as to produce flow. The essential steps in this process are: (a) to set an overall goal, and as many subgoals as are realistically feasible; (b) to find ways of measuring progress in terms of the goals chosen; (c) to keep concentrating on what one is doing, and to keep making finer and finer distinctions in the challenges involved in the activity; (d) to develop the skills necessary to interact with the opportunities available; and (e) to keep raising the stakes if the activity becomes boring.
A good example of this method is the act of walking, which is as simple a use of the body as one can imagine, yet which can become a complex flow activity, almost an art form. A great number of different goals might be set for a walk. For instance, the choice of the itinerary: where one wishes to go, and by what route. Within the overall route, one might select places to stop, or certain landmarks to see. Another goal may be to develop a personal style, a way to move the body easily and efficiently. An economy of motion that maximizes physical well-being is another obvious goal. For measuring progress, the feedback may include how fast and how easily the intended distance was covered; how many interesting sights one has seen; and how many new ideas or feelings were entertained along the way.”
Even something as trivial as walking can produce a flow experience. I used to do this by swapping sides of the street that I hadn’t walked on, taking pictures of landmarks on the way which allowed me to gather a new unique interaction I hadn’t had before.
In Viktor Frankl’s “Man search for meaning” it states “Man does not simply exist but always decides what his existence will be, what he will become the next moment. By the same token, every human being has the freedom to change at any instant.”
If we combine the responsibility of our existence from Frankl and Csikszentmihalyi’s advice on how to reach flow this is how we can ascertain meaning in seemingly trivial tasks.
Flow is more than just a way to cope on a walk to work, I have seen the shattering consequences of students who cannot resist the urge to go on their phone during a study session. Many people find it hard to read a book for 20 minutes. This is one of the biggest modern problems that may be linked to the current mental health crisis. In the U.K where suicide Is the leading cause of death for men under the age of 50, where every week in England, 6 in 100 people will be diagnosed with generalised anxiety disorder, we need to look at what on an individual level we can do to improve our mindset.
Although we are mainly talking about characteristic 6 on the list, Flow is narrowed down into 8 characteristics :
Complete concentration on the task;
Clarity of goals and reward in mind and immediate feedback;
Transformation of time (speeding up/slowing down);
The experience is intrinsically rewarding;
Effortlessness and ease;
There is a balance between challenge and skills;
Actions and awareness are merged, losing self-conscious rumination;
There is a feeling of control over the task.
Sometimes the floor has nice messages which can act as sources of motivation. “Everything gets better”. However, maybe try reading a book instead as I wouldn’t advise nearly getting run over.
