IRISH EXAMINER FRI, 02 AUG, 2024 – 02:00
Abridged from the full article by Sharon Ni Chonchuir
https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/healthandwellbeing/arid-41448088.htm
Experts say entrepreneurs, athletes, and writers all enter ‘flow state’ when they really concentrate on the task at hand — it’s a reward in itself but also can increase productivity 
Flow means “becoming so absorbed in whatever we are doing that the rest of the world vanishes from our consciousness and there is only the task at hand. We enter this state when doing an activity we enjoy, that requires concentration and at which we are skilled”, says Brendan Kelly, professor of psychiatry at TCD and author of The Science of Happiness.
We are more likely to enter this state when we take on a task that offers a level of challenge commensurate with our level of skill. “That challenge mustn’t be so great that our efforts seem futile but nor must it be so small that we get no reward or the activity doesn’t seem worthwhile,” says Kelly.
Margaret Forde, the chartered counselling and organisational psychologist behind Take the Steps courses explains it further. “Flow was first identified as a concept by a Hungarian American psychologist called Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in 1990,” she says.
“He defined it as feeling our best while performing at our best. It’s an intense experiential involvement in activity, when we’re engrossed in what we’re doing, when all distractions disappear and an hour can go by and we don’t even notice.”
Kelly points out that flow doesn’t merely enhance our focus and boost our performance. “It makes us more creative too,” he says.
“We emerge from flow feeling refreshed, fulfilled and happier than when we started. Flow is a deeply nourishing mental state that is highly conducive to happiness and mental health.”
We don’t yet understand exactly what happens in our brain when we’re in flow state.
“But we do know that our prefrontal cortex appears to be deactivated,” says Forde. That’s the part of our brain that worries and feels anxious. When it’s switched off, we are better able to be fully immersed in the moment. We stop analysing ourselves and what we are doing and just do it.”
Flow state is also associated with elevated dopamine and serotonin levels. “Both of these neurotransmitters are associated with positive mood and emotions,” says Forde. “They are what make being in flow feel so rewarding.”
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https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/healthandwellbeing/arid-41448088.htm