finding flow the psychology of engagement with everyday life

The idea is that the people participating in the study wear pagers or programmable watches that signal them at random times. One of his favorite methods of studying people’s attitudes and feelings is the Experience Sampling Method, or ESM. Csikszentmihalyi has conducted some very interesting studies on happiness, work, and flow. Much of it, however, discusses specific ways in which you can use his studies and research to improve your own life.ĭr. Csikszentmihalyi’s research and various related studies and theories. The book does seem to serve both purposes equally well. On the other hand, it isn’t dry and obfuscated the way most academic papers seem to be. The language is erudite and dense, and I wouldn’t recommend it for someone who has trouble with large words or who is looking for a little light reading. Psychology book, or self-help book? It’s listed as both on the back cover, but there can be worlds of difference between academic psychological research and your average easy-to-read self-help book. After reading Perry’s book, I went on to find one of his: “Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life.” Where Perry interpreted flow with respect to writers, the professor relates it to the entirety of our lives. Perry’s work was based on research by psychologist and professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. When you’re in flow, you become so deeply immersed in… whatever activity you’re doing, that you forget yourself and your surroundings… You feel challenged, stimulated, definitely not bored.

You know you’ve been in flow when time seems to have disappeared. Getting into “flow” while you work can feel amazing. Perry’s “Writing in Flow,” and I was intrigued. Pros: Fascinating research doesn’t promise easy answers genuinely helpful

Finding flow the psychology of engagement with everyday life