Karl Guevara's Profile

ESM studies find more
occasions of flow on the job than in free time

Work is much more like a game than most other things we do
during the day. It usually has clear goals and rules of performance.

In terms of the bottom line of one's life, it is
always better to do something one feels good about than something that
may make us materially comfortable but emotionally miserable.

When approached without
too many cultural prejudices and with a determination to make it
personally meaningful, even the most mundane job can produce flow.

In comparison to work, people often lack a clear purpose when
spending time at home with the family or alone.

Unless one learns how to use this
time effectively, having leisure at one's disposal does not improve the
quality of life.

Each of the
flow-producing activities requires an initial investment of attention
before it begins to be enjoyable.

our attention becomes structured by external demands

it was found that the more often people report
reading books, the more flow experiences they claim to have, while the
opposite trend was found for watching television.

Active leisure
that helps a person grow does not come easily.

Only lack of
imagination, or lack of energy, stand in the way of each of us becoming a
poet or musician, an inventor or explorer, an amateur scholar, scientist,
artist, or collector.

interaction with others is the least
predictable. At one moment we experience flow, the next apathy, anxiety,
relaxation, or boredom.

How much stress
we experience depends more on how well we control attention than on what
happens to us.

It is better to look
suffering straight in the eye, acknowledge and respect its presence, and
then get busy as soon as possible focusing on things we choose to focus
on.

To learn to control attention, any skill or discipline one can
master on one's own will serve: meditation and prayer, exercise,
aerobics, martial arts.

develop the habit of doing whatever needs
to be done with concentrated attention

take stock
systematically of the various influences on one's moods

start experimenting, by increasing the frequency of the
positive ones and decreasing that of others.

surroundings

rhythms

more often than not,
time stress is an excuse for not taking control of one's life

Putting yourself in
the right place where information is flowing freely and interesting new
juxtapositions can be seen.

It turns out that the best way to find breakthrough ideas might be to avoid working hard.

By most measures, we spend about a third of our time daydreaming,
yet our brain is unusually active during these seemingly idle moments.

the flypaper of an unfocused mind may trap new
ideas and unexpected associations more effectively than methodical
reasoning.

Very rarely do people report flow in passive
leisure activities, such as watching television or relaxing.