Psychologist Mihaly Csíkszentmihályi:

Flow is a pleasurable psychological state people experience when engaged in an activity that is both appropriately challenging to one’s skill level, often resulting in immersion and concentrated focus on a task. This can result in deep learning and high levels of personal and work satisfaction.

As an artist, you may think I am regularly in a flow state, but that’s not the case. I find drawing and painting to be quite stressful processes. I worry about ‘getting it right’, and ‘is it good enough?’. And then, while I’m working, I zone out and anxiety takes over.

What does put me in a flow state, are engaging crafts I can do with my hands: woodworking, DIY, gardening – things that I can do without putting myself under pressure to perform well at, but that are just complex enough to keep me in the Goldilocks flow state. I also find that working in an abstract style to be much less stressful.

What keeps you in the Goldilocks flow state zone?