Flow & creative hobbies

Balancing skill and challenge to experience joy

I like to make things happen.

I’m constantly trying to move forward and make progress in all aspects of my life. I’m grateful for my natural bias for action, but it also means that I’m not very good at relaxing. In fact, I am terrible at it. If I try to lounge by a pool, zone out in front of the TV, or take a nap, my to-do list inevitably starts creeping into my brain, and I’ll get up and do something.

I’ve discovered that making things is one of the best ways for me to recharge and relax. While I’m making, time stands still and my mind becomes quiet. It’s just my hands moving, my brain instructing them to convert my vision into reality in a super direct way, “a relinquishing of conscious control.”

and, oops, it’s 3:43am and my work station is a chaotic mess

I can lose track of time when I’m making. All of a sudden it’s a few hours later and I may be really thirsty or desperately have to pee, but I’m otherwise feeling great. My creative hobbies commonly lead me to a joyful state of Flow.

A quick primer on Flow

The psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi coined the term “Flow” in the 1970s. He defined it as “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” (source). I describe it as similar to the feeling you get when you’re cutting wrapping paper, and the scissors start to glide. Zero friction. Effortless effort.

a classic meme, source unknown (maybe this Redditor?) 

Csikszentmihalyi studied Flow for decades and wrote a few great books about it. Some light Googling will get you to his 2004 TED talk and tons of articles (like this one) and recent news about Flow (like this, this and this), so I won’t write you a book report. But one thing I find particularly interesting is that Csikszentmihalyi and his fellow researchers discovered that people are more likely to experience Flow when they engage in an activity that’s the right mix of skill and challenge.

our happy pink friend has matched his skills to the right level of challenge

If something is too easy, you’ll be bored. Too hard, you’ll be frustrated. Get that balance *just right*, and you may get to Flow.

“Flow occurs in that delicate zone between boredom and anxiety.” - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

You found the balance, hooray! Now it’s all Flow all the time, right? Nope. There are many reasons why you may not hit Flow, like distractions, multitasking, etc. And as you build skills, the things that were once challenging may become easy, and if you don’t adjust the difficulty level commensurately, it’s unlikely you’ll get to Flow.

Finding the right balance in creative hobbies

Flow is achievable during many different types of activities (Csikszentmihalyi and other researchers have observed it in dancers, chess players, athletes, artists, etc.) and is commonly associated with creative expression. But, getting to Flow from one’s creative practice can be tricky because it is hard to find that perfect balance and then readjust to maintain it. For example:

• Julie is interested in making miniatures and starts by trying out a kit that includes a technique that’s way outside her skill set. She gets frustrated and decides, “making miniatures is not for me.”

• Ishaan has experience painting, but he’s a bit rusty, so he decides to try a paint-by-number kit. He gets bored quickly because his skills exceed what’s needed to complete the project. He abandons the project halfway through.

• Adrian has been knitting for years, but the sweater they just knit wasn’t as fun to make as the last one they made, so they put down their knitting needles and think, “hmm, I guess I’ve just fallen out of love with knitting?”

My co-founder and I are focused on how we can help people like Julie, Ishaan, and Adrian find the right balance in their creative practice so they can consistently get to Flow state and experience joy from making. We have a lot of ideas for how we can help our customers achieve this, backed by research from Csikszentmihalyi and other psychologists and scientists. We can’t wait to launch and help support creative practices soon!

But in the meantime, I encourage you, dear reader, to try making something that slightly stretches your skills and puts you in “that delicate zone between boredom and anxiety” so you can try to hit Flow. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t get there right away—it’s a balance, after all. And even if you don’t feel like you’re a pair of scissors gliding through wrapping paper, making things has other scientifically proven benefits (I’ll write more about them in an upcoming post).

Regardless of whether or not I get into a Flow state, I typically emerge from my making sessions feeling calm yet energized. At times I’m proud of what I was able to create, and other times, I fail to realize my vision. I appreciate learning something new about myself or a material, and I like the challenge of navigating mistakes and unexpected challenges. Regardless of what I create (or fail to create), I’m always glad that I’ve put down my phone and used my hands to make something.

I’ve found that my creative hobbies are the perfect antidote to burnout and stress, leading to a sense of accomplishment, joy, meaning, and, of course, Flow.

Nothing would make me happier than if my words (and our future product) led to more people making and experiencing joy. So I do hope you’ll treat yourself to making something this week.