By David Hamilton | Source

Have you ever been so absorbed in something that you completely lost track of time?

Maybe you were gardening. Or playing music. Or painting, cooking, reading a really good book.

Or working on something you were so engrossed in that, when you finally looked at the clock, you couldn’t believe how much time had passed.

I know that feeling really well. I’ve experienced it quite a lot recently while writing my new book (deadline in two weeks, which also explains why this week’s post is a day late). Sometimes I’ll become so immersed in a chapter that several hours seem to disappear.

There’s actually a name for this experience. Psychologists call it flow.

Flow

The concept was pioneered by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who studied what happens when people become completely absorbed in an activity.

It’s characterised by intense concentration, a reduced awareness of ourselves, and sometimes a changed sense of time. We’re not thinking about what we need to do next. Neither are we worrying about how we’re coming across. We’re simply immersed in what we’re doing.

And here’s what I find really important about flow. It’s associated with greater wellbeing.

Flow and Wellbeing

In fact, a meta-analysis published this year (2026) brought together research examining the relationship between flow and wellbeing. The researchers found a moderately strong positive association.

But more than that, the relationship was stronger for what psychologists call eudaimonic wellbeing – things like meaning, personal growth and functioning well – than for simply feeling happy. I particularly love that distinction and it’s something I’ve been exploring in one of the chapters of my book.

Because flow isn’t necessarily about feeling happy in the moment. Because the thing is… when you’re completely absorbed in something, you’re often not thinking about your happiness at all. You’re simply doing it.

Yet the experience can be deeply fulfilling. Sometimes we feel most fulfilled when we’re not thinking about how we feel at all.

In other words, happiness isn’t always something we find by looking for it. Sometimes it finds us when we’re absorbed in something else.

How to Have Flow

So how can we experience more flow?

One important ingredient is finding the right balance between challenge and skill. If something is too easy, we might become bored, but if it’s too difficult, we may become frustrated or anxious. But when an activity stretches us just enough to engage our abilities, we’re more likely to become absorbed in it.

It also helps to have a clear sense of what we’re doing, to be able to see how we’re progressing, and to minimise distractions.

And lastly, flow isn’t reserved for extraordinary achievements. It can happen while playing an instrument, tending a garden, solving a puzzle, making something, or learning a new skill.

Something seemingly ordinary can be your doorway to flow.

Try This

So here’s something to try this week.

Think of an activity that you enjoy and that absorbs your attention.

Something that challenges you a little, but not so much that it overwhelms you.

Then give yourself some uninterrupted time to do it.

Put your phone aside. Forget about multitasking. And allow yourself to become completely immersed.

Don’t try to force flow to happen.

Simply create the conditions that make it more likely.

Because maybe one of the ways to experience a richer life isn’t to keep searching for more things to make us happy.

Sometimes it’s to become so absorbed in something meaningful or enjoyable that, for a little while, we forget to search for happiness at all.

References

The 2026 flow meta-analysis. Link.

A paper on the balance between challenge and skill. Link.