Flow summary

While our attention can manage only a limited amount of information during our lifetime, from this dwindling resource most of us choose instant gratification as compensation for the daily grind of our lives.

This is because we favor simple pleasure over the more rewarding, yet more difficult to attain, enjoyment.

Across different languages and cultures, people use the same terms to describe what they feel when they are “in the zone.”

This feeling is one of enjoyment rather than pleasure and it comes when you are engaged in a task or activity that balances skills and challenges, has clear goals and immediate feedback.

One morning in Naples, a US tourist walked into an antique store and asked to buy a sculpture. The owner quoted a steep figure, yet when he saw the tourist was about to pay he claimed the sculpture wasn’t for sale.

Why?

For most of us, the idea of paying attention to our walking is an unusual one. Walking simply gets us from A to B.

But by paying attention to the variety of sights around you – the people, their interactions, historical relics, architecture and so on – even the most routine actions, such as walking, can be transformed.By practicing mindfulness of our surroundings, we can learn to perceive much more than our automatic response to the world allows.

Many of us who play sports and exercise gain enjoyment from the focused attention these activities require. But it's not only through sports that we can achieve this: we can also use our minds to play games and get into the "flow state" which produces enjoyment.

Such a mental flow state can result from engaging in language and memory games and exercises. For instance, crosswords kill time on trains, but this pursuit is dependent on an external stimulus. Instead, try creating your own crossword puzzles. Not only can this lead to flow, but it also improves your wordplay skills, making conversations more fun by transcending the usual small talk and mundane exchanges.

Many people are dissatisfied with their daily routines and often their jobs are to blame. What makes matters worse is that their leisure time is spent recovering from their work in the laziest way.

However, work can be developed into something that provides a challenge, focuses our attention and reduces our anxieties.

Busy trains and open-plan offices can impinge on our freedom and individuality. Time spent alone allows us to give our undivided attention to something, but it can also lead to boredom. That’s when we need the support of the people we know and trust.

In short, good family, friends and neighbors.

We’re all faced with misfortune at some time or other. Rather than simply giving up because we feel unable to handle the situation, we could employ the following three strategies:

First, we should let go of our egos and trust in our ability to handle situations as they arise.

As Earth is not the center of the universe and our lives are manipulated by our genes, life can seem bereft of ultimate meaning. Yet we can certainly create meaning and the beauty of this is that each of us can choose what that meaning is.

To find your meaning you need an ultimate goal in life to focus on. The end goal is irrelevant, as long as it immerses you fully in increasingly complex challenges, allowing you to disregard others’ opinions.