Flow

Flow
Author: Mihaly Csikszent
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 322
Release: 1991-03-13
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0060920432

An introduction to "flow," a new field of behavioral science that offers life-fulfilling potential, explains its principles and shows how to introduce flow into all aspects of life, avoiding the interferences of disharmony.

Flow Experience

Flow Experience
Author: László Harmat
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 395
Release: 2016-05-15
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 331928634X

This volume provides updates and informs the reader about the development of the current empirical research on the flow experience. It opens up some new research questions at the frontiers of the field. The book offers an overview on the latest findings in flow research in several fields such as social psychology, neuropsychology, performing arts and sport, education, work and everyday experiences. It integrates the latest knowledge on experimental studies of optimal experience with the theoretical foundation of psychological flow that was laid down in the last decades.

Optimal Experience

Optimal Experience
Author: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 436
Release: 1992-07-31
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780521438094

A comprehensive survey of study on the 'flow' experience, a desirable or optimal state of consciousness that enhances the psychic state.

Flow in Sports

Flow in Sports
Author: Susan A. Jackson
Publisher: Human Kinetics
Total Pages: 196
Release: 1999
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9780880118767

With help from sports psychology researcher Jackson, Csikszentmihalyi (human behavior, U. of Chicago) pares down his now-famous concept of flow to basic explanations and self-assessment exercises. Emphasis is on achieving a balance between challenges and skills, setting goals, taking advantage of feedback, focusing on the present, controlling the controllables, and having fun. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The Rise of Superman

The Rise of Superman
Author: Steven Kotler
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Total Pages: 261
Release: 2014
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1477800832

An exploration of how extreme athletes break the limits of ultimate human performance and what we can learn from their mastery of the state of consciousness known as "flow" In this groundbreaking book, New York Times-bestselling author Steven Kotler decodes the mystery of ultimate human performance. Drawing on over a decade of research and first-hand interviews with dozens of top action and adventure sports athletes such as big-wave legend Laird Hamilton, big-mountain snowboarder Jeremy Jones, and skateboarding pioneer Danny Way, Kotler explores the frontier science of "flow," an optimal state of consciousness where we perform and feel our best. Building a bridge between the extreme and the mainstream, The Rise of Superman explains how these athletes are using flow to do the impossible and how we can use this information to radically accelerate our performance in our own lives. At its core, this is a book about profound possibility, what is actually possible for our species, and where--if anywhere--our limits lie.

Finding Flow

Finding Flow
Author: Mihaly Csikszentmihalhi
Publisher: Hachette UK
Total Pages: 171
Release: 2020-03-03
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 1541647459

From the bestselling author of Flow and one of the pioneers of the scientific study of happiness, an indispensable guide to living your best life. What makes a good life? Is it money? An important job? Leisure time? Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi believes our obsessive focus on such measures has led us astray. Work fills our days with anxiety and pressure, so that during our free time, we tend to live in boredom, absorbed by our screens. What are we missing? To answer this question, Csikszentmihalyi studied thousands of people, and he found the key. People are happiest when they challenge themselves with tasks that demand a high degree of skill and commitment, and which are undertaken for their own sake. Instead of scrolling on your phone, play the piano. Take a routine chore and figure out how to do it better, faster, more efficiently. In short, learn the hidden power of complete engagement, a psychological state the author calls flow. Though they appear simple, the lessons in Finding Flow are life-changing.

Against Flow

Against Flow
Author: Braxton Soderman
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 329
Release: 2021-04-13
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN: 0262045508

A critical discussion of the experience and theory of flow (as conceptualized by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi) in video games. Flow--as conceptualized by the psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi--describes an experience of "being in the zone," of intense absorption in an activity. It is a central concept in the study of video games, although often applied somewhat uncritically. In Against Flow, Braxton Soderman takes a step back and offers a critical assessment of flow's historical, theoretical, political, and ideological contexts in relation to video games. With close readings of games that implement and represent flow, Soderman not only evaluates the concept of flow in terms of video games but also presents a general critique of flow and its sibling, play.

Living in Flow

Living in Flow
Author: Sky Nelson-Isaacs
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2019-02-19
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 1623173124

Go beyond simplified self-help practices to harness the scientific principles of synchronicity and flow—so you can live better, work smarter, and find purpose in your life. When we align with circumstance, circumstance aligns with us. Using a cutting-edge scientific theory of synchronicity, Sky Nelson-Isaacs presents a model for living “in the flow”—a state of optimal functioning, creative thinking, and seemingly effortless productivity. Nelson-Isaacs explains how our choices create meaning, translating current and original ideas from theoretical physics and quantum mechanics into accessible, actionable steps that we can all take to live lives in better alignment with who we are and who we want to be. By turns encouraging and empowering, Living in Flow helps us develop an informed relationship to meaning-making and purposefulness in our lives. From this we can align ourselves more effectively within our personal, professional, and community relationships to live more in flow.

Flow and the Foundations of Positive Psychology

Flow and the Foundations of Positive Psychology
Author: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 313
Release: 2014-08-08
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9401790884

The second volume in the collected works of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi covers about thirty years of Csikszentmihalyi‘s work on three main and interconnected areas of study: attention, flow and positive psychology. Describing attention as psychic energy and in the footsteps of William James, Csikszentmihalyi explores the allocation of attention, the when and where and the amount of attention humans pay to tasks and the role of attention in creating ‘experiences’, or ordered patterns of information. Taking into account information processing theories and attempts at quantifying people’s investment, the chapters deal with such topics as time budgets and the development and use of the Experience Sampling Method of collecting data on attention in everyday life. Following the chapters on attention and reflecting Csikszentmihalyi’s branching out into sociology and anthropology, there are chapters on the topic of adult play and leisure and connected to that, on flow, a concept formulated and developed by Csikszentmihalyi. Flow has become a popular concept in business and management around the world and research on the concept continues to flourish. Finally, this volume contains articles that stem from Csikszentmihalyi’s connection with Martin Seligman; they deal with concepts and theories, as well as with the development and short history, of the field and the “movement” of positive psychology.

Advances in Flow Research

Advances in Flow Research
Author: Corinna Peifer
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 460
Release: 2021-01-21
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 3030534685

This second edition provides a review of the current flow research. The first, thoroughly revised and extended, part of the book, addresses basic concepts, correlates, conditions and consequences of flow experience. This includes the developments of the flow model, methods to measure flow, its physiological correlates, personality factors involved in the emergence of flow, social flow, the relationship of flow with performance and wellbeing, but also possible negative consequences of flow. The second, completely new, part of the book addresses flow in diverse contexts, in particular, work, development, sports, music and arts, and human computer interaction. As such, the book provides a broad overview on the current state of flow research – from the basics to specific contexts of application. It presents what has been learned since the beginning of flow research, what is still open, and how the mission to understand and foster flow should continue. The book addresses researchers and students who are interested in flow, as well as practitioners who seek for sound research on flow in their field of expertise.