如何进入心流状态

原文链接：How To Enter the Flow State

                                                                                                   Written  by MARELISA                                 Translated by 斯年矢末

预计阅读用时： 12min

版权声明：

原文版权属于MARELISA 女士，

译文版权属于 斯年矢末，

转载请务必联系作者获得授权，

请尊重原创，侵权必究，谢谢。

The state of flow, or being “in the zone”, is a state of peak performance.

处于心流状态或者处于极致专注的状态，是一个人的最佳表现。

“You are in an ecstatic state to such a point that you feel as though you almost don’t exist. I have experienced this time and again. My hand seems devoid of myself, and I have nothing to do with what is happening. I just sit there watching it in a state of awe and wonderment. And [the music] just flows out of itself.”

“你处于一种意醉神迷的状态以至于你似乎进入忘我境界。我曾不止一次地体验过这种感觉。我的手臂似乎离开了我的身体，并且我和现在正发生的一切毫无关系。我只是坐在那里敬畏而惊奇地观察者这种状态。音乐也不由自主地流溢开来。”

The quote above is from a leading composer describing the state of flow. The flow state has been described by the world’s greatest thinkers as the most productive and creative state of mind in which to work.

上面的这段描述心流状态的话引自一位主流作曲家。世界上最伟大的思想者都把“心流”看作是工作时最富有成效、最具有创造性的状态。

In addition, positive psychologists–most notably Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Ph.D.–argue that achieving the flow state on a regular basis is a key component of happiness.

另外，积极心理学家——其中最有名的Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi博士论证说，规律性地进入心流状态是幸福的关键组成部分。

That is, by learning how to enter the state of flow you can increase your productivity, be more creative, and be happier, all at the same time.

也即，通过学习如何进入心流状态，你能同时增加自己的生产力、创造力，并且变得越来越快乐。

This article will show you how to enter the state of flow.

这篇文章将会告诉你如何进入心流状态。

What Is the State of Flow?

什么是心流状态呢？

In 2004 Dr. Csikszentmihalyi gave a TED Talk in which he explains that the nervous system is incapable of processing more than 110 bits of information per second.

If you’re listening to someone speak you need to process about 60 bits of information per second in order to understand what they’re saying.

This is why if there are two people talking to you at the same time, you can’t listen to both of them and understand what both are saying.

2004年，Csikszentmihalyi博士在一次TED演讲中解释道，我们的神经系统每秒最多处理110位元的信息。当你在听某人讲话的时候，为了理解他们说的是什么，你需要处理大概60位元的信息。这也解释了为什么当两个人同时和你讲话的时候，你既不能同时听他们两个讲话，也不能同时理解他们说的是什么意思。

He then goes on to explain that when you’re completely involved in the process of creating something new you don’t have enough attention left over to monitor how your body feels–the fact that you’re hungry or tired–or to listen to your mind chatter.

People in the flow state, like the composer in the quote at the top of this blog post, explain that when they enter this state of ecstasy it’s as if they don’t exist.

他进一步解释说当你完全投入到一项创造新事物的活动中时，你就不会余留足够的注意力来观察你身体的感觉——你究竟是饿还是累，或者聆听你灵魂的呓语。处于心流状态中的人们，比如在这篇博文最初引言里提到的那位作曲家，就说当他们进入这种精神的狂喜状态之中时感觉就像他们不存在了一样（译者注：忘我的境界）。

Composing is an activity that requires intense concentration. The composer’s body and his identity disappear while he’s composing because he doesn’t have enough attention to be able to compose well and at the same time to feel that he exists. It’s as if his existence is temporarily suspended while he’s creating.

创作乐曲是一项需要极强专注力的活动。作曲家们在创作的时候，并没有足够的注意力在创作的同时感受到他自己的存在，因此其身体及其认同感便会消失。那感觉就好像是当他在创作的时候，他短暂性地消失了一样。

It’s also important to note that the composer has the ability to “switch off” so that the process of composing becomes almost automatic. He doesn’t have to consciously think of what he’s doing because he’s highly skilled and very experienced at composing. An important part of achieving the flow state is developing a high level of skill in the particular area in which you’re striving to achieve a flow state.

另外值得注意的一点是因为作曲家们有某种“听而不闻”的能力，所以他们的创作过程几乎是在无意识的状态下进行的。他不需要刻意思考要做什么——因为他在作曲这方面已经非常娴熟且经验丰富了。进入心流状态的一个要点便是在你想要拥有心流状态的特定领域培养一种较高水平的技能。

An accomplished figure skater describes “flow” as follows:

一位资深滑雪运动员这样描述“心流”状态：

“It was just one of those programs that clicked. I mean, everything went right, everything felt good . . . It’s just such a rush, like you feel it could go on and on and on, like you don’t want it to stop because it’s going so well. It’s almost as though you don’t have to think, it’s like everything goes automatically without thinking . . . it’s like you’re on automatic pilot, so you don’t have any thoughts. You hear the music but you’re not aware that you’re hearing it, because it’s a part of it all.”

那就是你点击启动的众多程序中的一个。我是指，所有的事情都进展顺利，一切都让人感觉那么美好……它就像一阵狂奔，让你感觉能够一直一直继续下去，它进行得如此顺利以至于你都不想让它停止下来。就好像你不用思考一样，一切就都自动地进行了。那就像是你在进行一个自动化的试验项目，所以根本不需要任何思考。当你在听音乐的时候你根本意识不到你在听，因为这本身就是它的一部分。

The Point at Which You Hit the State of Flow

进入心流状态的重点：

Dr. Csikszentmihalyi used the graph to the left during his TED.com talk to illustrate the point that in order to achieve a flow state, a balance must be struck between the challenge of the task and the skill of the performer. On the horizontal axis you measure how challenging the activity is, and on the vertical axis you measure your level of skill at that particular task.

Csikszentmihalyi博士在他的TED演讲中用 左侧（译者注：在这篇文章中是 下面这幅图） 的这幅图表解释道：为了进入心流状态，执行者必须平衡好任务的挑战难度和他的技能水平。即在横轴上你需要衡量出这项活动的挑战难度，在纵轴上你需要衡量出在特定的工作中你需要拥有的技能水平。

As you can see from the diagram, there’s a point, let’s call it “the sweet spot”, where the level of challenge is high and the skills that you have to meet that challenge are also high, and it is at that point that you enter the flow state (the yellow area on the graph).

正如从这个图表你所能看到的，有一个挑战水平和你为了应对挑战所应具有的技能水平都很高的点，且让我们称其为“甜蜜点”，恰恰在这一点你可以进入心流状态（图表中的黄色区域）。

Notice how the interplay between how challenging an activity is and your skill level in that activity can make you feel as follows:

注意某个活动的挑战性和你在这一活动中的技能水平的相互作用是如何是你有如下的感觉的：

 Apathy (low challenge, low skills)

淡漠（低挑战水平，低技能水平）

 Boredom (low challenge, mediocre skills)

厌倦（低挑战水平，中等技能水平）

 Relaxation (low challenge, high skills)

放松（低挑战水平，高技能水平）

 That you’re in control (somewhat challenging, high skills)

可管控（有点挑战性，高技能水平）

 Worry (somewhat challenging, low skills)

担心（有一些挑战性，低技能水平）

 Anxiety (challenging, low skills)

（低挑战水平，低技能水平）

 Arousal (very challenging, mediocre skills).

激励（颇具挑战性，中等技能水平）

If you’re in the “arousal” state you can move into “flow” by developing more skills. On the other hand, if you’re in control you can enter “flow” by making the task more challenging.

如果你处于 “觉醒（的）激励” 状态，培养更多技能之后，你有望进入心流状态。另一方面，如果在进行活动时你更具控制管理能力，通过提高任务挑战性你也可以进入心流状态。

How Does It Feel to Be in the Flow?

处于心流状态是一种什么样的体验？

Thousands of people from every wake of like were interviewed by Dr. Csikszentmihalyi and his team in order to identify the key components of the flow state. These seven points summarize how those interviewed responded that they felt when in the flow state:

Csikszentmihalyi博士为找到心流状态的关键组成部分而采访了数以千计几乎在相似状态下醒来的人。下面的这七点总结了当这些被采访的人处于心流状态中时他们回应的感受。

1. You’re completely involved in what you’re doing: you’re completely focused and concentrated.

你在全身心地参与正在做的事情：精力集中、全神贯注

2. There’s a sense of ecstasy of being outside of everyday reality.

有一种超脱平凡现实的狂喜之感

3. There’s a great inner clarity: you know what needs to be done and you get immediate feedback on how well you’re doing.

更加深入更加清楚的是：你知道自己需要做什么，并且能得到即时反馈以得知你做得有多好

4. You know that the activity is doable, that you have the necessary skills to complete the task successfully.

你知道这项活动是可行的，你也拥有成功完成这项任务所必需的技能

5. You lose your sense of self and all of your worries and concerns drift away.

你进入忘我的状态，所有的担心和忧虑都慢慢消散

6. You lose track of time and you’re completely focused on the present moment.

你没有了时间流逝的紧迫感，而是完全投入于当下

7. There’s an intrinsic motivation—whatever produces flow becomes it’s own reward.

有一种内在的动机，无论什么让你产生心流之感，都是它本身的报偿和奖励

Interestingly enough, the idea of flow came into being as result of research on happiness. Researchers began asking themselves: “What makes us happy?” and “When are we most happy”? As a result of this research psychologists realized that being able to enter the flow state–which is a very enjoyable experience–is a key component of happiness.

非常有趣的是，心流想法的形成是（研究者们）在幸福方面研究的结果。研究者开始问他们自己，“究竟是什么让我们快乐？”和“我们什么时候最高兴？”结果心理学家意识到这种非常愉悦的体验——能够进入心流状态，就是给我们带来幸福的关键因素。

How to Achieve the Flow State

如何进入心流状态：

From everything stated above it can be seen that in order to achieve the flow state you need to do the following:

从上面我们所陈述的可以看出，为了达到心流状态，你需要做如下的事情：

 Find a challenge. Choose something that you enjoy doing. It can be anything, whether it’s playing the piano, working on your novel, skiing, horseback riding, playing golf, and so on.

寻求挑战。（但记住）选择一项你喜欢做的事情。它可以是弹钢琴、写小说、滑雪、

 Develop your skills in order to be able to meet the challenge. Remember that if something is too easy you’ll be bored–and your mind is likely to wander so you won’t achieve the flow state–, and if something is too hard you’ll be overwhelmed and you won’t be able to achieve that subconscious competence that is necessary for the flow state.

培养技能以有能力应对挑战。记住，一件事情太简单你就会感到无聊，并且你有可能走神然后就不能进入心流状态；如果某件事情太困难你会感到不知所措，同时不太可能拥有那种潜意识下对心流状态的形成十分必要的能力。

 Set clear goals. You want to be very clear on what you want to achieve and how you’ll know whether you’re succeeding. Here’s an example: “I’m going to write a blog post on how to achieve the flow state.  I’ll know that I’m succeeding if I can clearly set forth what the flow state is, what it’s major components are, why it’s beneficial, and how to achieve it.”

设定清晰的目标。你需要对你想要在哪方面有所作为和如何知晓自己是否仍在继续要十分清楚。举个例子：“我要写一篇关于如何进入心流状态的博文。如果我能够阐述清楚什么是心流状态，它的主要组分，它为什么是有益的以及如何达到 等等这些问题，我便知道我正在通往写好这篇博文的成功之路了。

 Focus completely on the task at hand. Eliminate all other distractions. You don’t want anything to take your attention away from the task that you’re performing; if your concentration is broken you’re going to exit the state of flow.

全身心投入于手边的工作。消除掉一切无关的干扰。我们都不想让任何事情使我们的注意力从正在做的事情上分散出去；一旦专注的状态被破坏，我们便会从心流状态之中宣告退出。

 Make sure that you’ve set aside sufficient time. It’s very likely that it’s going to take you at least fifteen minutes to start to get into the flow state, and a while longer after that until you’re fully immersed. Once you enter the flow state you want to make sure that you make the most of it, instead of having to stop prematurely because you have to go do something else.

确保你已预留足够的时间。进入心流状态前的准备阶段就很有可能花费你至少十五分钟的时间，直至你完全沉浸则会使用更长时间。一旦进入心流状态，你需要确保能够充分利用这段时间，而不是因其他的事情而过早地停止。

 Monitor your emotional state. If you meet all of the requirements above, but you’re having trouble entering the flow state, monitor your emotional state. If you’re in an aroused state–angry, anxious, worried, and so on–, try doing something that will calm you down. Do you feel that your energy level is low and you’re feeling sluggish? Do something to pick up your energy levels, whether it’s doing jumping jacks, having a healthy snack, reading something motivational, or calling a friend who makes you laugh.

观察你的情绪状态。如果你满足了以上所提的所有要求却仍然很难进入心流，那么有意识地观察你的情绪状态吧。处于唤醒状态——有愤怒、焦虑、担心等情绪时，试着做一些能让你变得安静的事情。你感觉到能量水平较低，并且惰性大发，行动迟缓？做一些能提高能量水平的事情吧，无论是跳爆竹（译者注：一种运动项目），吃一些健康一点的小吃，读一些心灵鸡汤，或者是给一个能让你哈哈大笑的朋友打电话。

Conclusion：结束语：

To conclude, here’s a quote from a poet on the flow state:

最后，让我引用一位诗人关于心流状态的一段话作为总结：

“It’s like opening a door that’s floating in the middle of nowhere and all you have to do is go and turn the handle and open it and let yourself sink into it. You can’t particularly force yourself through it. You just have to float. If there’s any gravitational pull, it’s from the outside world trying to keep you back from the door.”

“那就像是要打开一扇正漂浮在远处的门，你需要做的就是走过去转动把手，打开它让自己逐渐沉浸其中。你不可以强迫自己非要这样做。你甚至只能漂浮起来，如果有任何重力吸引，那它肯定来自于让你远离那扇门的外在世界。”