Maximise the Joy of Creative Flow By Doing More Of What You Love
Build expertise to benefit from flow states during creative tasks
Being ‘in the zone’ or in ‘flow’ is one of the best human experiences.
For me, I lose myself for hours in creative activities like painting, drawing and writing.
It also happens when I read a great book, scientific paper or article.
But what is being ‘in the zone’ or ‘flow’?
Flow is a state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience is so enjoyable that people will continue to do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
So why should we care about flow or getting into the zone?
Csikszentmihalyi studied flow amongst other psychological states for over 40 years.
Post Second World War, he noticed how some people struggled to rebuild their lives, whereas others developed ways to be more fulfilled.
He was inspired by the creatives he observed. Somehow they had found purpose and enjoyment by getting into these hyper-focused creative states.
The benefits of choosing creative flow
Wider society, leaders, influencers and online creators latched onto this concept too. They all talk about flow and how to get into the zone because it helps.
Flow is associated with subjective well-being, satisfaction with life and general happiness. At work, it’s linked to productivity, motivation and company loyalty.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Looking at this quote, it's a no-brainer about finding ways to get into flow every day.
Feeling better AND being more effective and motivated? Yes please!
You also get physiological benefits. Being in flow helps your breathing get deeper and slows down heart rate. This is a great counterbalance to our frazzled and overly stressed modern lifestyles.
Even facial muscles relax into a smile, and blood pressure reduces. Improving your cardiovascular state is important for physical flexibility and resilience in the face of challenges.
Although you can get into the zone or flow by doing a range of activities that interest you and are challenged by, e.g., video gaming, reading, sport etc, creative flow is particularly enjoyable and beneficial, e.g., writing, art, musical performance etc.
Creative flow is a state of consciousness where creativity unfolds with ease and enjoyment.
Neuroscience News
The difference between these types of activities suggests that creative tasks need more immediate subjective judgment in how the activity is going - there is a sense of an outcome but its not the same as with activities with an objective judgement and feedback i.e., getting to the next stage of a computer game versus creating a piece of art or writing.
I created porcelain ceramics as a creative hobby for years, and it was one of the highest creative flow activities for me. The goal and what I was aiming for was subjective to me, even if others could assess how it went in general terms.
I knew what ‘looked right’ to me as the creative process evolved, and adjusted accordingly.
Whichever stage of the process I was at, I would get lost for hours honing the skill and creating (or breaking!) a porcelain piece.
Troubles of the day melted away during these creative activities, and I returned to the real world in a different mood or with a different perspective - this is still the case when I paint, draw or write.
As an aside, my personal goal is to create a home ceramics studio so I can do it in my own time and pace, along with others.
I'm a third generation potter on my dad’s side - it's a family tradition that has deep connections across the oceans and generations.
Whilst processing complex grief at losing my dad a couple of years ago, exploring art, creative expression and creative flow brought real peace of mind during a devastating time.
It's the core reason I study and practice art-based coaching, as I witness the benefits and deeper understanding creative flow gives me AND my clients.
In our hectic and harried world, getting into creative flow like this offers sweet relief outside a timetable and task list.
It gives us timeless mental space to explore our skills, talent and curiosity, as well as unconscious emotional expression.
Creative flow in particular helps de-stress and builds confidence in our sense of achievement and ability at a much deeper level.
An alternative theory to boost creative flow
What piqued my interest this week was a new article about the neuroscience of getting into creative flow, and an alternative theory of how it occurs.
One theory from neuroscience research related to arithmetic or video-gaming studies suggests that flow state reduces activation in the brain’s Default Mode Network (DMN).
The DMN is a brain circuit of disparate regions that work together when a person is daydreaming, considering their past or planning the future, or generally recalling autobiographical memories.
There is also an increased activation in the Central Executive Network (CEN), a brain circuit of regions (with some located in the frontal lobes), that relates to decision-making, working memory and reducing distraction from external stimuli.
It’s more associated with conscious control over tasks or activities we undertake.
This is the ‘flow-is-hyperfocus’ theory, where distractions are shut out to improve performance of the task at hand.
An alternative theory, known as the ‘expertise-plus-release’ theory of creative flow suggests there is a greater influence from increased expertise in a task and the subjective personal experience of creative flow, as well as how this works in the brain.
This suggests that years of expertise in a certain task or activity lays down stable brain networks that can be activated more automatically and are resistant to distractions. The CEN control is released as less supervision of the task/process and performance is required (known as transient hypofrontality).
Well, colour me curious!
After studying neuroscience for over 20 years, it's clear that there isn't just one way our brains function.
There are many circuits and networks that exist and kick in to support key activities or functions.
This adds resilience into the system.
If there is a problem with one area, the activity or function still works because an alternative steps in or shares the load.
This might also influence why similar activities may differ in their sense and feel.
Expertise makes a difference to how creative flow feels
Let’s dive into this recent US neuroimaging study from Drexel University of 32 jazz guitar improvisers (Rosen et al., 2024). The researchers compared two groups of jazz musicians to investigate differences in the experience of creative flow and any associated brain changes using high-density electroencephalograms (EEGs) recordings.
Specifically, they compared novice jazz musicians vs experienced jazz musicians to test the above two flow theories and how expertise may differentiate or influence them.
Bring this back to your own life. You could get into flow or into the zone doing a variety of activities, but you likely get more enjoyment when it’s something you have done for a while and takes less conscious effort.
For me, this definitely leans into creative endeavours. I get into flow doing my day job activities such as redrafting a contract or analysing data, but it’s never as enjoyable as my creative flow activities, particularly the visually expressive ones.
It’s more intuitive, even if it becomes more challenging because of the goals you are aiming for. If the ‘expertise-plus-release’ theory is supported, as the researchers proposed, this would show up in the neuroimaging recordings and the self-reported experience of the jazz musicians.
It turns out they were right.
There were clear differences between the groups after recording the jazz improvisations from novice and experienced jazz musicians, which were assessed by jazz experts for the quality of the musical improvisation, and asking the musicians how they felt during the experience.
In summary,
High-flow states were associated with consciously 'letting go’ (i.e. CEN activation was reduced because transient hypofrontality was recorded by the EEGs)
Extensive activity experience supports the ability to consciously let go and allow creative ideas to be automatically generated, as suggested by increased activation in the brain’s left hemisphere and its auditory, visual and touch specialty regions (likely because the activity undertaken was a musical instrument-related one).
These results back the ‘expertise-plus-release’ theory of creative flow, where building up expertise in a specific activity or task-area deepens the creative flow experience.
Participants with less experience were less likely to get into deep creative flow versus the ones with higher experience, who got into deep creative flow with greater frequency and intensity.
Even though this was a small study, and relies on self-report of the subjective creative flow experience from the participants, it demonstrates that flow or getting into the zone is not a singular or uniform experience.
Depending on the type of task you’re doing and how long you’ve done it, the creative flow experience can be pretty different.
The great thing about that is there are some key elements you can take into your own life.
Steps you can take to maximise your creative flow
Now you’re convinced about the benefits of creative flow (I hope!), not just from a subjective experience perspective, but also from tangible physical and mental wellbeing aspects, what can you do to improve the creative flow experience?
Here are some tips to introduce into your week:
Learn the basics of the creative activity or task
Perhaps you have natural talent but even if you don’t, learning the basics is a core activity for everyone
Find people who inspire and energise you so you build internal motivation to get through the basics with curiosity
Consider how you prefer to learn - in person, online, from text or videos
Find a support group where you can safely ask questions, and learn from too
Practice the creative activity or task consistently
Set aside time to practice, practice, practice - how do the best artists, musicians, and dancers look so effortless in what they do? They put in the hours and hone their craft
Timeboxing or putting reminders into your calendar helps you remember that this is an important activity to you. Leaving it to chance in the early days means you’ll find ways to get out of this core effortful stage
Experiment with letting go and improvise your creative domain or task
Start experimenting with the skills you’ve developed. Try using new materials you’ve been avoiding (e.g. watercolours or complicated music sheets etc), give yourself time restrictions (e.g. 5 minutes to create a sketch, 10 minutes to write a post or story etc)
Give yourself and others challenges to try together e.g. let’s all create a short story about a frog in a pond within an hour.
Notice how you feel as you get further along on the journey - are you creating ideas quicker, are you enjoying it more, what do you prefer vs dislike - use that information to stay curious and practice letting go when you create
If you’re stressed, distracted or just want to challenge yourself more, getting into deeper creative flow is an excellent option to add to your weekly schedule as a rewarding counterbalance.
You get to explore what interests you, and the more you do, the better and more enjoyable the experience will be.🚀
What creative activity will you do more of to increase and enjoy creative flow?