11 Ways To Sail Through Tedious Tasks Using The Science Of Flow
Once a year, as the new school year begins, I sit in my office staring at my computer screen, preparing to pull the trigger on a yearly data checking project that requires me to search online for hundreds and hundreds of pieces of data.
I care about my job. I understand the importance of having good data for our yearly report. And every year this project is my Mount Everest.
A few weeks ago, I stumbled across an article about the science of flow and felt my stomach begin to flutter with excitement.
Positive Psychologist Mikhail Csikszentmialyi says it’s possible to have immensely satisfying, time stopping experiences in even the most “barren” of work situations.
The next three days were spent pouring over his book Flow: the Psychology of Optimal Experience reading story after story of farmers, factory workers, and welders finding creative ways to stay in the zone with their work.
As I'm reading, I can see that I’ve already been partially applying some of these principles. With some tweaks, this could be just the thing to uplevel my enjoyment of my data checking project.
FLOW AT WORK
To improve your experience of work, Csikszentmialyi says to focus on two things:
Makeover your job so it has the features of a flow activity.
Adopt attitudes of a flow-friendly personality.
First, let’s cover the characteristics of a flow activity and strategies for remaking your project for flow. Then we’ll talk about the flow-friendly personality.
CHARACTERISTICS OF A FLOW ACTIVITY
A flow activity resembles a game. It’s based on a clear goal, has variety, and the potential to be the right mix of rewarding and challenging.
Having the right level of challenge is key for getting into flow according to Csikszentmialyi.
When goals are too hard, you lose faith in your ability to succeed and give up. Too simple, and your focus wanders looking for more stimulation. When a goal matches your skills or stretches you slightly you become completelyabsorbed, losing all sense of time.
Seeing immediate progress lets you feel in control and confident that you can be successful. There’s no worry or self-consciousness.
HOW TO MAKE YOUR PROJECT INTO A FLOW ACTIVITY
Set a more challenging goal and make a game of the task.
For my data project, my goal in the past was to complete 15 years of data checking in a few days. Having days to complete the task gave me too much time to procrastinate.
By shortening the deadline to one day, the task becomes more challenging.
Tracking my speed and trying to beat the clock makes it a game.
Noticing how subtle changes in approach can shave seconds off my time forces my creativity.
For example, instead of working in a single browser window, I open ten search windows so I can enter my search term without wasting time deleting the old term.
Support strong focus.
All-consuming, time-stopping focus is a key element of flow. Here are four strategies that help:
Timing is everything. You’re most alert in the later morning. Preserve 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM for challenging tasks that need strong focus. Avoid mid-afternoon when you’re experiencing the after lunch slump.
Do it first. Doing the task first without checking email and messages helps minimize the mental distractions that keep you from getting started. First thing, I sit down, open my document, and commit. This works better for me later in the week since Monday’s are the heaviest days for emails and calls. I’m also more productive earlier in the day later in the week since my body’s adjusted to my weekday wake time.
Take care of your physical needs first. Having to go to the bathroom is distracting and interferes with deep focus. If I’m getting grumpy in the middle of a task, there’s a good chance I’m thirsty, need the restroom, or am hungry.
Change work location. We develop mental associations between our physical space and what we’re doing. Leave stagnant energy behind by going to a coffee shop, working outside with your laptop on a sunny day, or taking your work to a conference room down the hall. Borrow new energy from a new work space. A day of working at home rather than the office can magically shift my focus and energy for a project.
Focus with positive pairing.
Adding in “microflow”activities or little bursts of stimulation can offset the boredom you feel when time is passing painfully slow.
For example, if you’re listening to a boring speaker, creating a counting game around the number of times they use a specific word can help you stay engaged. It's one type of microflow.
I’ve been tapping into microflow with my data project without even knowing it. Here are three things I do:
Stand up. Getting a stand-up desk proved to me that when you engage the body you engage the mind. Rote activities that don’t require a lot of strategic mental work get a boost when paired with the physical sensation of standing. My favorite time to use it is after 3:00 PM when I’m drooping in my chair and my attention has left the building.
Listen to music. According to Csikszentmialyi, music “helps organize the mind”. It soothes anxiety and breaks up boredom and can induce flow. Music is one of my favorite ways to help stay engaged. But it’s important for me to stop and think about what I really want to hear. The wrong music can just leave me feeling irritated.
Listen to podcasts or audio books.The Magnolia Story by Joanna and Chip Gaines got me through my data project two years ago. It’s important to choose the right podcast or audio book. Light and entertaining stories provide an emotional lift without becoming distracting. Heavily conceptual material becomes too absorbing.
THE FLOW-FRIENDLY PERSONALITY
Cultivating personality traits that are conducive to flow is the second part of improving your experience at work.
You’re much more likely to be successful when you redesign your activities for flow and cultivate flow-friendly personality traits.
Being “autotelic” gives you a leg up on getting into flow. The word autotelic comes from two Greek words, auto (self) and telos (goal).
If you’re autotelic, you’re highly self-motivated to tackle new challenges just for the sake of it.
You’re open to trying new things, to learning, and are persistent.
You’re conscientious but you’re also not wound up in perfectionism and self-criticism that’s motivated by a fear of failing.
If you read this definition and doubt that you’re naturally autotelic, I’m right there with you.
I can be anxious when trying new things and I have a tendency to want to stay in my safe little shell.
Here are some things that have helped me.
If you’re autotelic, you’re highly self-motivated to tackle new challenges just for the sake of it.
STRATEGIES FOR BECOMING A FLOW-FRIENDLY PERSONALITY
Focus on how you want to achieve your goal by setting a “being” goal. “Being” goals address how you want to be as you pursue your goal. What’s your attitude? Choose a personal trait you want to challenge yourself to use.
Not long ago, I wrote about my goal of feeling playful in the face of stress and how it transformed my experience of planning an office party. Typically, if I can’t find a way into my task with a rousing action-oriented goal, I can always find a “being” goal.
For my data checking project, my goal is to be utterly engaged. Engagement means staying on target, pushing forward for time, crossing tasks off the list.
Get into the flow and then borrow the momentum for a dull task. In my experience, being in the flow makes subsequent tasks more enjoyable.
Walking almost a mile from my parking deck to my office every morning gives me time to listen to audiobooks or podcasts. Walking, learning, and thinking are all activities that are ripe for flow, according to Csikszentmialyi. Moving my body while learning fills me with great ideas that I often have to stop and jot down on my cell phone. Some of my best ideas come from this unselfconscious, creative state.
When I get to work, I’m in the flow and feeling intellectually excited. While you’d think this would be a hard time to tear myself away to focus on a rote activity, I find that a routine task becomes pleasant background noise to my intellectual stimulation.
Feel good to do good work. Intentionally improve your mood before starting a boring task. You wouldn’t squeeze a lemon with a hand that has a cut. It’s much harder to focus when your mind is overwhelmed by stress. The task will take longer and you’re more likely to make errors.
If I’m procrastinating and in a bad mood, connecting with a friend, walking outside in the sunshine, or doing a mini-meditation can be just the thing to reset my motivation.
I want to feel as absorbed, challenged, and deeply rewarded by my work as I did when I first started out 20 years ago.
Learning about the science of flow has been key for understanding how to create this state on a regular basis.
If you’re wondering if you’re in the wrong job or just need to find new strategies for dealing with routine tasks, I encourage you to think about the role that flow has in your own work.
It is possible to change how you approach your work so that flow is a more constant companion to your everyday.
YOUR TURN
How do you find flow at work? Is there an activity that always puts you in flow? Are you an autotelic personality?
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