Today I am going to talk a lot about time. And how we use, or don't use it to our benefit. This is a big topic but I am going to tackle it in a small space. And spending the few minutes it takes to read this and implement the science will vastly improve your life, I promise you that. Unless, of course, you are already doing these things, but chances are, even if you typically do practice good time investment, you may have slacked off in the pandemic, so a good reminder is in order. Today I will touch on time perspectives again, a topic previously discussed in length in an earlier blog post, and I will also talk about the importance of fully embracing your present experiences without interruption. This is vital to your resilience and overall well-being.
I have previously written about the science of time perspective (past, present, future focused), and how a good life is a blend of all three perspectives. In our current context, it can be rather easy to fall into a present perspective, living either a slow motion life (or freeze frame) in which you make your way through the drudgery of your daily life on autopilot, or living in a sprint through the daily responsibilities that leave you exhausted at the end of each day.
The problem with this focus on the present is that you fail to consider the beauty and joy of the past, and the hope for the future.
Now, let me be clear. I recognize this may feel out of your control because of your circumstances. It may be that you are working very hard to provide for yourself or your family, and you have no choice but to sprint through each day. And it is also very easy to feel like life is a slow motion picture, in black and white without sound, that is very boring and mundane. We are restricted in our ability to enjoy the things we used to enjoy, like a social life. I have personally experienced both of the present moment focused circumstances in the 2020 shit show.
So please do not think that I am saying either of these present moment focused possibilities are some easy choice you have made.
I am saying, however, that we can counteract that! That is good news!
I have one intervention for you, a rather counter-intuitive one, too, that will not only improve your present moment experiences, but will also open up your brain and biology to think more clearly about and savor good moments in the past, and simultaneously allow you to think more hopefully about the future.
Wow, this intervention packs a powerful punch! Further good news... it is typically FREE and FUN. Woo-hoo! And if you sign up in the next 10 minutes, you will get free shipping and a bonus pack of... oh, wait, no. Not really. There is nothing to purchase or ship. Ha ha ha.
So what is this intervention that is going to be so incredibly beneficial to your resilience?
Flow.
You guessed it, I have talked about it before, but it is so important, it deserves another post, all its own. My academic mentor in graduate school was Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and amazing man, mentor, humanitarian, and scientist. He coined the phrase 'flow' and has spent years studying its role in our lives. Work flow, group flow, personal flow. All the ways we can experience flow that can positively contribute to our well-being. There are ways we can get too distracted by experiencing flow, almost like becoming addicted to flow experiences, which can cause us to act obsessively about the activities that provide us flow, so it is not without a small amount of risk that way, but... there are no other side effects to flow. Other than joy, intrinsic motivation, elevated mood, improved creativity, and enhanced resilience. There are others, but these are the highlights for today. So... flow.
What is flow? I will tell you, and I have shared, above, a TED talk of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi himself, talking about it. If you are a runner and want to experience flow (you probably already do, sometimes), you can also find more about it in a book Mihaly and I co-authored with runner and running coach Phil Latter. It is called 'Running Flow' and is published by Human Kinetics. It is available through all the typical book outlets (amazon, etc.). But you don't have to buy the book to get some rudimentary understanding of the whats and hows of flow, so here we go.
Flow is this experience you have when you are really engrossed in something, really engaged with an activity that you enjoy, and that provides a bit of a challenge for you. When you get into a flow state of mind, things change in your brain's functioning, and the result is that you lose track of time, you lose track of what is happening around you, except for your progress toward the goal, you often experience what many say feels like 'being on autopilot' where your responses (like running form, or your fingers gliding across piano keys) feel automatic, and your performance is typically at its best. This feels exhilarating and incredibly satisfying! The unfortunate thing about flow is that it is very fleeting, meaning you cannot will it into being, and when you realize you are in a flow state, it typically ends rather abruptly. So, you must find an activity that you enjoy and set the stage for flow (I will discuss that shortly), and then just hope for the best.
The goal of your activity cannot be 'experiencing flow', because that is a conscious goal that will not materialize. The goal of your activity has to be activity specific.
For me, as a runner, my goal is about running distance and pace. For a musician it might be about playing a particular piece perfectly, or creating a new piece. Whatever your chosen activity, it should be something you enjoy.
It can even be something you do for 'work'! Work flow is a great predictor of career satisfaction, as a matter of fact.
But back to flow in leisure activities. It can be athletics, art creation or performance (music, dance, painting, sculpting, sketching, photographing, etc.), cooking, video game playing, chess, or checkers! Any activity that you participate in, enjoy, and can set goals in is an activity that provides an opportunity for flow. So, first, choose an activity. Then, set a goal.
Setting a goal is not something others can typically do for you, and this can be tricky. I will use my running as an example for goal setting. Your goal in the moment must be a slightly challenging goal. Not too hard, or it will result in anxiety, stress, or worry. Not too easy, or it will result in complacency or boredom. Just a little challenging. Enough to keep you engaged with the activity. This can vary, as it depends on how you perceive your current skill level, which is also open to interpretation and change.
My running, for example. How I feel about my running ability can vary from day to day based on external factors that contribute to my performance: 1) sleep, 2) hydration, 3) mood, 4) weather. If I haven't had enough sleep the night(s) before, enough water the day before, am in a bad mood, or if the weather is questionable, I am not going to perform at my best, so my goal has to be different if I want to experience flow. If I set a goal that is slightly challenging when all the factors are aligned, but I use that goal when I am tired, recovering from illness, dehydrated, cranky or stressed out, or it is windy outside, I am going to be stressed, anxious and frustrated, and flow will not happen. So, take those things into consideration when thinking about your current skill level and the goal for the day.
Other variables can influence our skill/perceived skill level. First, actual skill level influences: For me as a runner, it can be how much I have run or not run leading up to the current day. If I have had several long runs or hard runs in a week, my body is probably not going to be up for another hard goal. Likewise, if I haven't run much during the week, my body might need a day or two of easier runs before I set a challenging goal. So, how much practice you have had recently can influence your ability level.
Side note. Not all experiences with your activity can or should be flow opportunities. Sometimes, you need to put in some hard work to improve your skills, and those are at the high end of your challenge level, which would not be prime for flow. That is okay. As a runner, I know I need to put in some high intensity runs, usually hill repeats, that are necessary to improve but are not flow moments. That is okay!
Back to skill level: perceived skill level. As a runner, I can be pretty competitive, mostly with myself, but sometimes I run faster when there are other runners around (there is science to support that as a norm). This can backfire. It can help me improve by forcing me to push myself harder than I had planned, but it can also increase risk of injury, frustration, and early fatigue. As soon as those other runners are gone, I might stop, catch my breath and realize that was a dumb idea. Regardless, when we are surrounded by other people participating in the same activity, their presence can change our performance or our perception of our own skill level. This is especially true if you are a little shy, easily intimidated, or feel uncertain about your ability. When I am on a trail and get passed by younger, faster runners, I tend to feel my age and downgrade my perceived skill. So, I sometimes adjust my goal accordingly. For good or bad.
Given the feedback you are getting from your progress toward the goal, and the environment in which you are embedded, you may need to make adjustments to have a flow experience. Because of real or perceived attitudes about your skill, or the goal. It might be in your best interest to consider your progress toward the goal and make some adjustments, either to your performance or the goal. When I am out on a run, I wear a runner's watch that tells me how far I have gone, what my pace is, and what my heart rate is at the moment. I use this information to decide if I am making appropriate progress toward my goal. I use this information to decide if I need to speed up or slow down, or if my pace is just right. Or if I need to adjust my goal. Maybe today is NOT the day to run distance, and I might experience flow if I decided to run fewer miles. That decision might lower my anxiety, and invite flow. Maybe it isn't about distance, but pace. Maybe I need to just slow down a bit, and enjoy the run. That also invites flow. See, getting feedback, whether it is from a gadget or from your body/mind, and using that feedback to determine your progress toward the goal is vital. It helps you determine if your performance needs adjusting, or the goal needs tweaking, or if everything is on target.
The process of listening to the feedback and making adjustments is implicated in the changes in brain function that are so beneficial during flow. It slows the prefrontal cortex, which is where we house our ability to reason, to track the passage of time, and to be aware of our self-conscious interactions with the world around us. Because this is slowed, we become completely immersed in our activity, unaware of others who may be critiquing us, unaware of the passage of time, and unaware of distractions that may impede our performance. Ahhhh, flow.
The flow experience is great in the moment, and also has benefits that follow it. Once our prefrontal cortex kicks back into gear, we are more aware of our surroundings, but while it was shut down, our brain was still unconsciously processing the problems we might be facing, and working through solutions. So, creative problem solving was happening without our awareness. When flow ends, we are likely to have some solutions. And a clearer head, with improved memory and focus. We are also likely to have improved mood, and strengthened resilience. Flow helps us buffer stress, which is by definition, resilience!
Flow experiences require full absorption in the task. Full engagement in the present moment. No email, no texts, no social media, no other people to demand your attention or distract your from the task at hand.
This is good. It helps us put aside our worries about pandemics, people, and politics and just enjoy the moment(s). This also contributes to our hope for the future, because we can now look forward to future flow moments that we choose to create. And we can savor past flow moments, as well. So, flow moments in the present allow us to reflect on the past and look toward the future. All three time perspectives wrapped up in a pretty bow, with YOU making the choices about the activity, the where, and the when in which you will partake in that activity. You choose. It doesn't need to be elaborate or expensive. It doesn't require fancy gear or gadgets. Just you and an activity of your choosing.
It really can be that easy. Although the pandemic can add some extra challenges to finding your flow activity, and the time/space to do it, it is worth a try. I have had to tweak my running experiences over time because of injuries, fitness level, and circumstances, and each time I was willing to adjust to my circumstances and find ways to set a running goal, put on the running shoes and just start running, I was always glad I did it. After about 15 minutes. :)
The pandemic made it challenging to find trails to run that were not full of people. There have been many times I have gone to the trail to find my flow, only to turn around and get back in my car, a little pissed off I must say, because there were too many people on the trail to feel safe about the pandemic. So, I changed the time I was heading to the trail, avoiding weekends and evenings, and found different trails that were fairly unknown to others. Sometimes I had to get up really early to avoid the trail traffic, or run around and around and around my neighborhood, which was boring but better than no run at all. Sometimes I have been far too busy to get on the trail. There have been a few weeks where I fell into a funk and didn't feel like running at all. It happens.
But I can tell you with great confidence, because the science is there to support it, that when you find your flow activity and you commit to it, you will be glad. You will reap the emotional and cognitive rewards of your decision. Do it for yourself! You are worth it! So, find that activity, whether it is knitting or running, painting or gaming, cooking or crafting. Make it a priority in your life to carve out at least 20 minutes to do it as regularly as possible. There may be days when you don't have the time. In that situation, PLAN a day when you CAN take at least 20 minutes, or more. Just the act of planning it will make it more likely to come to fruition, and it will improve your mood right away, as you have something to anticipate.
FIND YOUR FLOW.
Meanwhile...
Be well, stay safe, and take care.
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