Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is credited with naming the concept of “flow,” a focused state widely recognized as conducive for productivity. In his chapter “Flow—The Psychology of Optimal Experience,” Csikszentmihalyi writes that flow “leads to integration because thoughts, intentions, feelings and the senses are focused on the same goal” (1990). He goes on to discuss how the flow state can be achieved both physically and mentally. “It is possible to develop sufficient skills to find delight in what the body can do,” he writes of achieving a physical state of flow. For working toward a mental state of flow, he describes the tendency of the mind to operate in a state of disorder or chaos: “With nothing to do, [the mind] begins to follow random patterns, usually stopping to consider something painful or disturbing. The mind will usually focus on some real or imaginary pain, on recent grudges or long-term frustrations.” This tendency begets the need to train the mind toward disciplined thought processes, which in turn can lead to periods of uninterrupted productivity.
Industrial designer Ingrid Fetell Lee has spent years researching the question, “How do tangible things create intangible joy?” She recently published the book Joyful (2018), which synthesizes her research into a comprehensive discussion of the ways in which physical or otherwise tangible elements of our environment influence our emotions and flow. I find the biggest takeaway from studies like these to be that we can manipulate our daily environments to augment the quality of our lives (for examples of design concepts that influence our perception, see my blogs here and here).
Life constrained to the ole homestead sounds easy, but the general consensus seems to be that, for anyone new to the game, there is a very real learning curve that favors those with well-developed self-discipline. How do we establish flow while working and learning from home? As engineers, we are trained to use our resources to our advantage. We learn to maximize potential and optimize processes, to throw some buzzwords out there. This situation is another open-ended problem— a task each of us should take a crack at solving, knowing there’s more than one solution path. Recognizing that limiting factors still apply, I nonetheless encourage everyone to actively design your space, your schedule, and your own routine to maximize your advantages, or in other words, to make best use of elements that foster joy and productivity. Anyone who thought engineering is nothing but hard math has another thought coming.
I will close with a short poem by L.R Knost that I find to be a great reminder for us all to find the good in this unique time we’ve inadvertently had bestowed upon us:
“Life is amazing. And then it’s awful. And then it’s amazing again. And in between the amazing and the awful, it’s ordinary and mundane and routine. Breathe in the amazing, hold on through the awful, and relax and exhale during the ordinary. That’s just living: heartbreaking, soul-healing, amazing, awful, ordinary life. And it’s breathtakingly beautiful.”