Flow – the natural way to create
What is a flow?
An intense focus, full immersion in a task that result in a creativity boost, enthusiastic engagement, and higher chances of extraordinary results. It also feels great (image: flow as per Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi).
Organic outcome of Emotional Hygiene
The flow is one of the organic outcomes of a functional Emotional Hygiene practice.
A flow arises naturally if:
1. Motivation — you are fully aware and enthusiastic about your motivation for doing the task (no hidden agenda that creates tension in the background).
2. Energy — you have sufficient energy (both physically and mentally). No stress or emotionally draining activities.
3. Inquiry — you have a clear internal inquiry that is not tunneled into narrow patterns by active biases. You can register subtle signals, and be open to new ideas (no/little “noise”).
4. Critical reasoning — your math and logic are sound, not conditioned by emotions, habitual way of thinking.
5. Attention — your focus naturally rests on the object of inquiry. Even if something distracts it for a while, you can easily revert it back (without irritation or losing “a thought”).
6. People — your relationships with the people involved are positive (no unprocessed conflicts, tensions, jealousy, or other unhealthy reactions).
Mind training practices to support a flow:
1. Monitoring — even a brief state-of-mind check may reveal if your current way of interacting with the subject of inquiry is “emotionally intelligent”. You can catch interferences early and do not allow them to hinder the process.
2. Tune-in rituals — a number of techniques can help you overcome routine agitations: a pause, a walk, taking a breath, letting the mind rest with the subject, a meditation, etc. Such mini-practices and external means do not address deeper causes but do help clear out residual reactions.
3. Reframing causes of interferences — if you are still getting emotional interference, loss of focus, a time-out may be required for locating and addressing the root causes (dysfunctional beliefs, reaction habits, etc.).
4. No Emotional Intelligence “on-demand” — if your Emotional Hygiene practice is insufficient, destructive states can overwhelm you and steal focus, your flow will be short-lived, unstable.
5. Find and verify your practice — you need a proven path, the successful experience of clearing an internal obstacle by addressing its internal causes.
