ALL ABOUT FLOW: ARE YOU IN YOUR FLOW?

ALL ABOUT FLOW: ARE YOU IN YOUR FLOW?

A Short Course in Finding the Place Where Challenge and Ability Meet

Some of life’s most satisfying moments occur when 

we become so engaged in what we are doing that 

we temporarily stop watching the clock.

We are focused.

Interested.

Challenged—but not overwhelmed.

Our abilities are being used.

Attention narrows naturally.

The activity itself becomes rewarding.

This experience is often called flow.

Flow can happen while:

Creating.

Writing.

Riding.

Working.

Playing music.

Solving a problem.

Building something.

Gardening.

Cooking.

Learning.

Participating in a sport.

Or engaging in countless other activities.

All About Flow: Are You in Your Flow? 

Introduces the conditions that make flow more likely 

and helps you examine where those experiences already 

exist—or may be missing—from your life.

The goal is not to remain in flow constantly.

It is to recognize and intentionally create more opportunities 

for the kind of focused engagement that makes us 

feel absorbed, capable, alive, and fully present.

What You’ll Practice

In this short course, you will explore how to:

•  
• Recognize what flow feels like.
• Identify activities that naturally absorb your attention.
• Understand the relationship between challenge and skill.
• Recognize when boredom occurs because challenge is too low.
• Recognize when anxiety occurs because challenge exceeds current skill.
• Adjust either challenge or skill to create a better match.
• Reduce interruptions that prevent deep engagement.
• Create clearer goals for activities.
• Seek useful feedback.
• Build skills that allow increasingly complex challenges.
• Notice where flow contributes to meaning and satisfaction.
• Create more opportunities for focused, rewarding engagement.

Challenge + Skill

When challenge is far below our abilities, we become bored.

When challenge is far beyond them, we become overwhelmed.

Flow is more likely near the place where:

The task asks something meaningful of us—

and we have enough skill to meet the challenge.

As skill grows, challenge can grow too.

Flow Requires Attention

Constant interruption makes deep engagement difficult.

Notifications.

Phones.

Email.

Multitasking.

Switching repeatedly between tasks.

Sometimes creating flow requires deliberately 

protecting attention long enough for immersion to occur.

Flow Is Not Only About Productivity

Flow can increase performance.

But its value is larger than productivity.

People often experience flow during activities that 

make life worth living even when nothing is being 

produced for sale, graded, measured, or accomplished.

Play.

Art.

Music.

Animals.

Sport.

Craft.

Learning.

Flow reminds us that attention itself can be deeply satisfying.

Who Is This Short Course For?

This course may be helpful if you:

• Feel bored or disengaged.
• Have difficulty becoming absorbed in activities.
• Spend large amounts of time distracted.
• Want greater creativity or focus.
• Want to rediscover activities that make you feel alive.
• Want more experiences of meaningful engagement in everyday life.

Flow happens when attention, ability, and 

challenge meet in the same place—and for a little while, 

we become completely present to what we are doing.