Written by Daniel Zhang | Edited by Alexander Alva
Photo by Streetwindy
Let me present a scenario that most college students should be familiar with: a student sits down at their desk, opens their laptop, and tells themselves how productive, focused, and efficient they will be–before they know it, they are dozing off into the sunlight daydreaming or scrolling through social media. This may be a common occurrence, but, strangely, other times this student may be so focused they lose track of time within their productive state. The latter phenomenon of productivity is what we colloquially call “the zone,” but is referred to by psychologists as “flow state.”
In flow state, a person loses grasp of much of the world around them in the midst of intense focus. This “flow” is a goal of students everywhere as they become busier and busier. Over years of research, flow has shown several defining characteristics in a variety of contexts; the four foremost characteristics are intense focus and concentration, reduced self-reflection, consciousness and actions becoming one, and rewarding activity [2]. These defining characteristics of flow may make us question how the brain changes when we are in this “zone.”
During flow state, a network of neurons responsible for task engagement, called the central executive network (CEN), takes an increased role. At the same time, another network of neurons, called default mode network (DMN), is responsible for mind-wandering and self-referential thinking of the brain, and it is less active. This could mean that a lack of resources within the brain due to CEN activity could lower DMN activity, resulting in a combination of full task engagement and reduced self reflection.
Another hallmark of flow directly relates to the difficulty of the task being pursued in flow. Enter the locus coeruleus norepinephrine system (LC-NE)–the LC-NE system plays a crucial role in, as its name suggests, norepinephrine release and regulation. This is more commonly known as adrenaline, the “fight-or-flight” hormone [3]. This system, as a result, facilitates arousal, or attention. A very high arousal could lead to stress, while a low one could lead to boredom, neither of which corresponds with flow state [1]. Another study states that a conscious decision must be made beforehand stating that a given task is interesting and worth the time–with intrinsic motivation and goal-relevance as crucial elements [2]. In short, both boredom and stress must be kept at a minimum in order to achieve optimal flow.
As we return to our distracted college student, what tips could they use to get into the productivity zone of flow? First and foremost, putting the cell phone away could be a good start! After that, repressing the wandering mind, finding a good reason to work, as well as finding a moderately challenging and valuable task could elevate one into an oasis of fruitful work. In a society where we continue to get more distracted by the day, any quantity of pure, engaged, and productive work is of immense importance.
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