Efficient focus, flow experience Stress PV236 – TIME MANAGEMENT & EFFECTIVENESS JOSEF SPURNÝ The Flow experience • Theoretical concept introduced by Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi • A state of high productivity and effortless motivation • No external reward is necessarily present • Positively correlates with motivation level •Enjoyable activity together with concentration may lead to flow experience more often How the Flow looks like? 1.Action-awareness merging ◦Involvement in action is automatic and natural ◦You become what you do 2.Full concentration ◦Immersion, full engagement in the activity ◦Ability to divert distractions 3.Sense of control ◦Rather than consciously trying to remain “in control”, flow experience is about feeling of control without willpower involvement 4.Loss of Ego ◦Normally, we monitor and regulate our behavior to be acceptable by others ◦In the flow, people are involved in the activity to such extent that self-monitoring is suppressed 5.Time distortion ◦Subjective feeling of loosing track of time ◦Time can be slowed, accelerated or may become irrelevant How to enter the Flow? o Do you experience flow? o In what situations? Can you repeat it? The Flow model The Flow channel The Flow preconditions by Csikszentmihalyi 1.Challenge-skill balance ◦Task is not too hard, nor too easy ◦“Zone of proximal development” 2.Well-defined task, consistent feedback ◦Both the goal and the path leading to it are clear Exercises/Tips: • Evaluate your skill level and set appropriate, clearly-defined goals (write them down) • • Adjust your daily routine & environment • • Create own mission statement – what do you want to achieve? • • Focus on internal validation of success instead of external Stress Society vs. mind • Acceleration of life pace (Paul Virilio – Dromology) • Fast progress in technology & science •Boomer: “When I was a little kid, I was curious, I was playing with all kind of technical appliance, a radio for example. Today’s kids don’t do that anymore. How will they become radio-engineers…?” •Yes, but radios 40 years ago were much simpler than anything nowadays’ kids can play with J •Knowledge grows linearly, but potential combinations grow exponentially à increased specialization of scientist • Increased communication (media/social media, advertising…) • Globalization Society vs. mind Our brain is a result of exponential growth, too: •550 M years of brain evolution •60 M years of primate brain evolution •200-400 K years of Homo sapiens brain evolution •50 K years of cultural development •10K years since agricultural revolution •150 years since industrial revolution •50 years since computer revolution • • We live in modern society, but our brain is mostly the same as it was thousands of years ago What is stress? Living organisms: §Intake information from their environment §Process, accumulate and transform information into internal structure (i.e., they learn à evolution) §Information initiate reaction (fight vs flight) §Get rid of excess information § Excess information that cannot be “dissipated” (relaxed) causes damage (stress) § § Hans Selye §Nobel Prize laureate in medicine §author of stress response (alarm – resistance – exhaustion) §Origin of “civilization” and psychosomatic diseases § The Stress model - discussion intake excess Internal structure Coping strategy Source of stress Psychosomatic health Healthy techniques of managing stress • increasing awareness about what happens to me • direct efficient solution • looking for alternative solutions • avoiding stressful situation • seeking emotional & social support • maintaining narcissistic equilibrium (discussed already) How not to manage stress? How not to manage stress? • denying reality • not seeking help • refusing offered help • self-destructive behavior (substance abuse, promiscuity…) • social isolation …