Writer Adam Gopnik finds happiness in being “vigilantly absorbed in some activity.”

You will like Happiness Experiment no 11 because it involves doing more of what you love to do.  It sounds so simple, surely attaining happiness should be more complicated and involve more of an effort? How can you be happy just by doing what you love to do?  Simple as the idea sounds most of us forget to do the things we love to do and get involved in the daily 9 to 5, the things we ought to do, the daily must do, should do and need to do lists. True happiness, argues Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, comes from you being completely absorbed in some activity: you are completely in the zone and time slips by unnoticed.  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a Hungarian psychologist and researcher, was credited with naming this state of complete absorption as “flow”. After interviewing many people who all had one thing in common (they pursued an activity for its own sake, not for the money or status but just for the joy of it) he came to label these experiences as “flow” activities. We all have different activities that put us in a state of flow and this can vary from individual to individual.  So how can you tell if you are in flow?  If you are experiencing most of these 7 characteristics while performing a task, chances are that you are experiencing flow:

• You experience oneness and ecstasy (you lose sense of self)
• You are completely involved and concentrated
• You experience the task as highly challenging and requiring a high level of skills
• You have a wonderful sense of serenity
• You experience a distorted sense of time
• You are intrinsically motivated
• You have a sense of control

Happiness Experiment no 11 is therefore to become aware of which activities are flow activities for you.  Make sure you set aside time for these flow activities this week rather than telling yourself you are too busy.  Make more time in your life for doing the things that you love.  It sounds a simple experiment but is a remarkably effective way of increasing your happiness.  If you would like to read more on the subject of flow read this book by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi or watch this video featuring in which Mihaly explains his theories further:

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Flow – the secret to happiness

Posted by Shona Lockhart, 8th October 2012