Among the gifts of summer for kids are a slower pace, less structure, and opportunities to follow their own interests and explorations. These are ideal conditions for dropping into flow – a state of deep immersion and engagement in an activity, when time passes without noticing it. Flow feels great and has big benefits for well-being and performance. It even counteracts some of the negatives of screen-time.
As we linger on the downhill slope of Summer and gear up for Fall, take a minute to appreciate the ingredients of flow, and learn how to carry them forward into busier times.
Flow is a state of being defined by Czech psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, in which we are completely absorbed in a task, loose self-consciousness, and often loose awareness of time passing. As Csikszentmihalyi describes:
“The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times . . . The best moments usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.” (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990).
Flow has many benefits: it feels inherently satisfying and motivating to continue the activity; it is an optimal state for creativity, innovation and learning; and we are approximately 5 times more ‘productive’ during flow.
You can't actively 'do' flow – sort of like sleep, it is a state that you let yourself fall into when the conditions are right. Kids naturally enter flow when they are playing and tinkering. When kids choose and direct their activities, have some mastery over the medium, and get feedback about what they’re doing in real-time, flow is likely. Things like building legos, playing music, doing a sport, making art, and playing video games are all good flow candidates.
Flow also makes a big difference for academics, not just hobbies and sports. Studies of flow in the classroom (Shernoff et al., 2011) found that particular academic topics did not matter, but instead the important things are:
high expectations with challenging but doable goals
making the material relevant to students’ lives
providing skills and materials to complete the tasks
monitoring progress & provide feedback with positive interactions
minimizing distractions
It is important to note that flow is born of deep immersion into one activity, which is the opposite of modern screen-based life. Toggling between tabs, watching videos in 15-second intervals, and following notifications and alerts from app to app are all flow-killers. During this extended time at home, try to allow your child prolonged time to work on one activity at a time. You may happily find that you get just as much time to yourself as if they were watching TV, when in fact they are being self-directed in a highly engaged state.
