by Stephen T. Messenger
June 23, 2026
I’m currently studying the Battle of Gettysburg. Earlier this month, I drove to the battlefield to walk the grounds and learn more by being there. It was so interesting to me that I completely lost all track of time and entered this almost dream-like state where outside influences were blocked off and learning snowballed.
Each place at Gettysburg became more and more engrossing as I hopped on numerous side quests: the seminary tower where the first recon took place, reenactors shooting cannons, Eisenhower’s post-presidency farm, and climbing Big Round Top. Before I knew it, my hard stop at noon came and went as I continued to learn.
Psychology calls this “being in the flow.” It’s a state of mind where we are so immersed in the material that everything comes together perfectly. I came across this term when a LinkedIn connection turned me on to the concept through a 2020 article by Tyler Bisconti called Flow.
Since reading it, I’ve realized how lucky we are when in the flow of a project, sport, hobby, or interest.
The Psychological Meaning of Flow
Being in the flow is when a person has a hyper-focused level of concentration in a project, which leads to increased performance. This is most visible in athletes. Consider a golfer who’s hitting every shot perfectly and tuning out the crowd. They’re in the zone! When someone is in a state of flow, they are executing their tasks well and crushing everything they do.
This concept was first introduced by Hungarian psychologist and researcher Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. His 1990 book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, introduced the idea of achieving a state of mind so perfect that everything falls into place. When we’re in that space, we’re completely focused on the task at hand and making exponential progress in what we’re doing.
In this mindset, we’re doing things without thinking and doing them well. Perhaps the most interesting part is that we let go of our egos and can block out the external noise of other people. Instead, we’re doing something not to impress the crowd, but for the sake of excellence.
Most people think of flow in terms of sports. We see pitchers who are on the verge of no-hitters, quarterbacks threading the needle to wide receivers, and marathon runners who are completely focused. But we also see this in the arts. Painters, musicians, and poets can all live in the flow and see a spike in creativity.
Don’t worry. While it usually requires skill to be in the zone, mastery of the subject is not required. This is why my Gettysburg excursion was flowing. I am no master of the battlefield, but I am skilled at learning new things. This topic was of such interest to me that my mind went to a place of great focus.
Unfortunately, our modern workplaces are actively designed to prevent this state of mind. We constantly operate in the “anti-flow”—a fractured reality of endless email pings, instant message notifications, and constant context-switching. This digital noise stretches our attention thin, draining our energy and lowering our productivity. To combat this friction, we have to look at how we can purposefully shift our environment toward peak performance.
Being in the flow is great, but learning how to get there is even better.
Ten Conditions for Achieving Flow
Csikszentmihalyi believed there are ten requirements to enter a state of flow, and I added a way to get there on each.
- Challenging, clear goals. Target our end points: When we’re able to envision a desired outcome that overcomes substantial obstacles, this is where the flow begins. Simple tasks with no outcome won’t get us to the flow, like doomscrolling. Instead, the task must be hard to achieve but not so hard that it seems impossible.
- Concentration and focus. Set the conditions: The flow requires us to be locked in on the task at hand. If we’re distracted by outside influences, we’ll never hit the zone. This is where silent cell phones and notifications come in handy. The zone requires setting conditions for total concentration.
- Pleasure in the task. Find internal drive: We must have an innate desire to do well at the task. If we don’t enjoy what we’re doing, it will be hard to get into the zone, and it will feel like a chore. The flow comes with a love of what we’re doing, not just an obligation.
- Peace. Quiet the mind: We should feel an overwhelming sense of calm when we’re in the flow. Stressed-out people struggle to find their inner peace. Being in this state of mind is almost an out-of-body experience, where we’re metaphorically floating above the event and still working on our task, in total serenity.
- Timelessness. Ditch the clock: When we are so focused on our task, we lose all sense of time. Before we know it, hours have gone by, and we’re still dutifully working. Remember a time we sat in a long, boring meeting, and time crawled by. The flow abandons the concept of time, and it passes without notice.
- Immediate feedback. Measure progress in real-time: One important requirement for the flow is that we need to receive positive feedback in the moment. We have to feel like we’re continuously making progress toward our goal. This could be in the form of audience approval, more words on a page, or any sort of visual progress.
- Knowing it’s possible. Build a confident mindset: The flow requires us to know that we’re going to succeed. Even if it’s a competitive contest and we may not win, we must at least believe it is possible. Being in the zone requires a confident mindset that we are making progress and will reach our goal eventually.
- Personal control. Own the outcome: We must believe that we are the determiners of our future. The flow does not rest in hope or fate but instead insists that the outcome is within our control and can be affected by our work ethic, the time we put in, and our continued efforts. Moreover, we can see the finish line that we know we will soon cross.
- Ignoring physical needs. Prioritize the project: This is when we forget about hunger, hydration, and sleep and continue to press on with our project. We’ve all worked late into the night or skipped a meal because we were so engrossed in our work. The flow places task completion above physical needs.
- The merging of action and awareness. Eliminate internal friction: Finally, when we are truly in the flow, our actions become automatic and deeply instinctual. The friction between thinking about a task and actually doing it disappears entirely. We are no longer watching ourselves perform; we are simply executing the work at an elevated, seamless level.
When we have achieved all or most of these ten markers, we are living in the zone. This is when we see gains beyond normal work, which leads to increased productivity and performance.
Get in the Zone
By understanding what the zone is and the benefits that come with it, we should be encouraged to seek being in the flow. Often, this takes quieting the world around us, blocking out interruptions, and giving our full focus to an achievable and pleasurable task.
Professionals should seek flow when it makes sense. These ten requirements are not intuitive, but we can take steps to set conditions and facilitate getting there as outlined above.
My trip to Gettysburg blocked out all the noise by being physically separated from home or work. It was interesting, fun, and peaceful. But the two things that most got me in the zone were that every stop added to my narrative of the battlefield and brought me closer to my goal of seeing every site. Just like navigating the historical terrain of Gettysburg, our own professional teams need clear, visible markers to discover their momentum.
To make great gains on our next project, we cannot just hope for focus while leaving notifications on and email open. We have to actively defeat the anti-flow by setting our own battlefield conditions. Find a way to facilitate these ten benchmarks to get in the flow. Then see what happens!
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