Friction to Flow

Finding The Flow

Practical tips for peak performance without burnout

Flow is the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Psychologist, “Father of Flow”

Flow requires three ingredients: clear goals, immediate feedback, and matched challenge. It’s like a video game; you know what to do, you know how you’re doing, and it’s hard enough to be interesting but not impossible. Most work lacks at least one of these elements.

One thing you could do this week to reduce friction and increase flow:

One thing you could do this week to reduce friction and increase flow:

Individual’s Tip: Pick your most important task. Clear your desk, close all tabs, put your phone in a drawer. Work for 90 minutes straight. Notice the difference.
Team Leader Tip: Run a “flow session” – give the team one clear goal, immediate feedback on progress, and 2 hours of uninterrupted time. Watch the magic happen.
Executive Leader: Redesign one important process to be clearer: What’s the goal? How do people know they’re succeeding? Remove any fuzzy bits.

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