[Book 9] Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Flow brilliantly explains why we experience so much pleasure while overcoming challenges and why we’re often bored in our free time. Mihaly defines flow as a state of genuine satisfaction by being absorbed in an activity that matches intense focus with an equally challenging task. I found it fascinating that introducing structure (e.g., rules and responsibilities) often enhances our enjoyment because it clarifies what to focus on. This book has enabled me to better appreciate the conditions necessary for a flow state across all domains in my life (even household chores!) which has lead to more enjoyment in my life.

You should read this book if you…

• have experienced moments of deep focus or productivity and want to replicate it more often
• want ideas on how to get more meaning and enjoyment out of both your work and leisure time
• seek to limit the influence of outside forces on your mood

Additional Information

Year Published: 1990
Book Ranking (from 1-10): 10 – Superb – Changed the way I live my life
Ease of Read (from 1-5): 5 – Difficult/Academic

Key Highlights

1. Happiness does not depend on outside events but rather on how we interpret them. Controlling our inner experience determines the quality of our lives
2. The best moments in our lives are not passive, relaxing times but rather when our bodies and minds are stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile
3. Frustration is deeply woven into the fabric of life
4. To overcome most anxieties and depressions, we must become independent of our social environment by finding enjoyment and purpose regardless of external circumstances, which is under our control but difficult because it requires a drastic change in attitude about what’s important
5. Total control of consciousness is the ability to focus attention at will 
6. Enjoyment is characterized by a sense of novel accomplishment resulting in growth and added complexity
7. Competition is enjoyable as a means to perfect ones skills, not as an end to beat someone
8. Rules and feedback facilitate concentration and focus on goal
9. When adversity threatens to paralyze us, we can reassert control by finding a new direction to invest energy that is outside of the reach of external forces
10. Paradox of Work: Jobs make people fill skillful and challenged, thus happy and satisfied. In free time, people are bored and dissatisfied. Yet based on strong rooted cultural norms we try and avoid work and maximize leisure time
11. Jobs are easier to enjoy than free time because they have built in goals, rules, feedback and challenges, promoting concentration and flow
12. Accepting limitations is liberating because it frees the energy that would be otherwise focused on the non-limited space
13. There are few things as enjoyable as sharing one’s most secret feelings with another trusted person
14. People emerge happier from tragedies because they present victims with very clear goals will reducing inessential choices. Mastering the challenge gives a clarity of purpose they had lacked before and resuming normal activities is now more enjoyable