Finding Flow - the Formula of Motivation
This Christmas I sat beside my son and read a book while he completed a Lego kit like it was a life-or-death mission. Nothing was going to distract him from this task. He was in “flow”, a state of complete immersion in an activity.
“The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you’re using your skills to the utmost”
- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Psychologist and seminal researcher on the theory of flow
The book I was reading was called “Drive” by Daniel Pink, where he dives into the research on how to motivate people. The incidence of flow is actually a great barometer for your level of motivation. When was the last time you felt flow at work?
Finding flow and re-igniting your motivation at work are inter-twined. Here is the formula.
· Mastery: It’s the Goldilocks principle - the task can’t be too easy or too hard, it has to be just right. Go out of your way to find something that will challenge and stretch you – something that intrigues you to learn how to get better at it. Be conscious about delegating or deleting tasks that don’t need to be done by you (or at all).
· Autonomy: If there is no room for creativity in the way you approach the work, if there are too many seemingly random guidelines or corrections, your intrinsic motivation will be hindered. Managers - be clear on the end goal and give as much autonomy as you can in the HOW they get there.
· Purpose: In order to be invested, we need to care personally about the outcome of our efforts. Think about the end users of your project - how will your work impact individual lives? Why is this important to you? Your purpose is WHY you do something, and it can’t just be profit/income. We all like to get paid but an emotional connection to an outcome is actually much more motivating.
· Environment: Set up a clean workspace, set your device settings to focus and tell people you are un-available. You can’t expect to find flow on the open floor where people are interrupting you every few minutes. Pick a work from home day or dedicate a weekend morning for work that you want to immerse yourself in.
I’m lucky that I find flow in my work every day, and it’s because I experience all of the above. The end result is you end up getting paid to do something you love and would do for free. Ask yourself, when was the last time something at work felt so fun and fulfilling that you would do it for free? Try to replicate those circumstances.