Flow can be described
as the highest level of intrinsic motivation one can attain. It occurs
when:
One’s skills
are appropriately matched by challenges (see figure below).
Concentration
is so intense that there is no excess attention to focus on irrelevant
problems or everyday worries.
The concept
of the self disappears and one loses a sense of time.
An activity
is so rewarding that people undertake the activity for its own sake
(Csikzentmihalyi, 2002).
If our skills are greater
than our challenges in an activity, we can enter a state of boredom
(easy activities, requiring little skill). If the challenges of our
activity are greater than our skills, we can become anxious as we may
not be able to complete our set activity (difficult activities, requiring
more skill than we have), but if our skills are appropriately matched
with our challenges, we are said to be in a state of flow-
optimal experience.