Flow state: what it is and how to get into flow more often

Daniel Gavalec · Updated October 18, 2026

Flow is a state in which you are so absorbed in an activity that you lose track of time, tune out distractions and the work seems to flow by itself. The concept comes from psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Flow is most likely when a task is just challenging enough for your skills, you have a clear goal and you see immediately how you are doing. You can’t order yourself into flow, but you can set up the conditions: one task, a long enough uninterrupted block, notifications off and a difficulty level at the edge of what you can handle.

What flow is

Flow is the experience of complete immersion in an activity. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1990) described it after interviews with climbers, chess players, surgeons, musicians and factory workers. People in very different fields described similar features:

• attention is fully on the task, distractions don’t get in,
• you know clearly what to do next and see right away whether it is working,
• self-consciousness and worry about how you come across fade,
• time feels distorted – usually it flies,
• the activity is rewarding in itself.

Flow is closely linked with intrinsic motivation: once you are in flow, you don’t need to talk yourself into working.

When flow happens: a challenge that fits

The best-known condition is a balance between challenge and skill. Johannes Keller and Herbert Bless (2008) tested this experimentally: people played a game whose difficulty was either adjusted to their performance or kept too easy or too hard. Flow appeared mainly in the group where difficulty matched skill.

The other conditions are a clear goal (you know what this hour should produce) and immediate feedback (you can see if it works). Clive Fullagar and Kevin Kelloway (2009) followed architecture students for a whole semester and found that differences in flow depended largely on the situation – students had more flow in work that used a variety of skills and gave them freedom to choose how.

What breaks flow

• Switching. Every detour to email or messages pulls you out, and getting back takes a while. Why: the multitasking myth.
• A short window. You rarely get into flow in five minutes between two meetings.
• A vague task. “Work on the project” gives your brain no direction. “Write the opening paragraph” does.
• Fatigue. After a bad night it is hard to hold attention, even on an ideal task.
• No challenge. Routine matters, but it won’t bring flow. Group it into a block and get it done fast (task batching).

6 steps to get into flow more often

1. Pick one task with a clear output. Write down what will be done by the end of the block.
2. Set aside a long enough block. For demanding work, usually 50 to 90 minutes. You can start shorter and extend.
3. Remove distractions in advance. Phone in another room, notifications off, one window only.
4. Tune the challenge. If the task is too easy, raise the bar. If it is too hard, shrink it to the first step.
5. Have your starting point ready. A note from last time saying “start here” saves you the warm-up.
6. Don’t fear the break. Flow is not a marathon. After a block, stretch and have a drink; the next block often goes better.

Long focused work is at the heart of deep work. How many such hours are realistic is covered in how many hours of focused work.

Flow myths

• “Flow is only for artists and athletes.” Csikszentmihalyi described it in assembly-line workers too. It is about your relationship with the task, not your field.
• “I’ll get into flow if I want it badly enough.” Flow can’t be forced. You can only prepare the conditions.
• “I’m always more productive in flow.” Research links flow with better mood and often performance, but most data are correlational (Peifer et al., 2022). You can also be in flow while gaming instead of working.
• “Music will get me into flow.” It helps some people and hinders others. What the research says: music for studying and focus.

Try it now in CORTEX

In CORTEX (free for everyone) start Focus on a task: a free timer or Pomodoro 25/5, 50/10 or 90/15. Time is logged automatically, and after the block you choose “Done”, “Another block” or “Redo”. While it runs, everything else waits. A week of deep work with a fixed calendar block is set up by the “Deep work week” template (More → Templates). If you have an account, open the Deep work week template.

app.getcortex.online/focus