Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life

When I picked up this book (Finding Flow) I had some expectation but, after covering the opening chapters and getting to the grips of the scientific exposition about flow experience beyond the usually shallow deliberations widely published on the web...I was glad that I picked Mihaly Csikszentmihaly's book...As the title suggests, the book talks about flow: what it means, why is it relevant, places and activities it can be found, how it differs due to people and environment, how to cultivate/enable it, and how it affects life. It also talks about topics such as pleasure vs enjoyment, consciousness, self, ego, life goals, and such. It does so by using a diverse collection of real-life examples from scientific exercise. One of the best aspects of the book is that it lays down the pros and cons of most aspects it presents. Flow as presented in this book is one of the determinants for a good life. Although equating flow with happiness may provoke controversies in some circles, I personally submit that the book based on that equality.

This book takes a scientific approach to finding meaning in life. How to be more aware of our actions and be more present. Well written and definitely worth a read.

Transformational book that changes how you look at your relationships to life. This book is easily one of the most important of our time!

What an amazing book full of great insides!!! Absolutely Loved It!!!

must read for anyone and everyone , lot of wisdom packed into this tiny audio book , I encountered flow in some instances of my life but I didnt realize and understood back then not aware of how to get there in other activities aswell this audiobook provides a framework on how to lead a fullfilled life with enriching experiences

Quite interesting as all data is based on true research.

Useful for all, providing insight on how to enjoy your life and feel better!

Really helpful for those looking into maximizing their focus. Going into flow is one of my main areas to increase and this book, when followed the advices, could help a lot.

Loved the 8-th and 9-th chapters in particular. And loved how the author emphasized on some particular ideas, by “replying” them in the book.

Life-changing! I will definitely incorporate this information into my personal system.

Too philosophical. Writer knocks religious faith. It was also quite flat.

Very bad book. The “Flow” is the only thing that had some sense but he does not goo deep to it at all.
He talks about goals, which is so obvious.. and even so his book is completely out of focus, picking things from here or there. Looks like the author had to publish something for curricula... or by his employer’s
pressure , and did it in two/ three weeks .A complete waste of time.

I love the pieces of advice given in this book. Finding flow is such a challenge nowadays when there are lots of demands to our attention.

Ce livre est très bien écrit et bien documenté, avec des exemples à l'appui. Le livre explique beaucoup de concepts de manière intelligente intégrée et globale

Definitely a flow book worth re-listening! Super interestingly flow genius!

The more I read about psychology, the more I wonder how people can't smell the snake oil. I'm in a management development program and Csikszentmihalyi's work was recommended. Perhaps I got the wrong one. This was certainly a load of rubbish.

Opinions as fact, conclusions tailored to support the thesis, odd references to ESP and spirituality, the only thing I can recommend is he has a really cool name.

I pulled the thread on a few of the topics and felt my skin crawl reading up on "psychic entropy." I studied thermodynamics and can only feel sadness if these guys have to borrow terms from real science to legitimize the flimsiness of theirs.

Habitual readers of self-help tripe might like this book. Nuff said.

Concept that our leisure can be active and passive; we can involve ourselves in short-term rewarding relaxation t-v watching with diminishing returns, or more fulfilling active study, learning an instrument, experimentation, or hobby where there is high-difficulty and high-skill.. In these situations it may require and initial investment of time before a sense of getting somewhere; the author refers to the sense of time-flying, as 'flow.' An 'Autotelic' person is one who has purpose on the inside, and isn't as much motivated by outside rewards, or is self-motivated; a self-starter. He suggests that a person learning music, to be a scientist, doing prayer/meditation, or working out, focus on building attention rather than the rewards that may follow from the discipline. Building attention and concentration will improve flow in said person's life. Highly interesting book with better core ideas than most, but with some filler and repetition.

I found this book to be an enjoyable introduction to the concept of flow. The combination of self-help meets science, along with it's small size made the topic enjoyable and interesting. Despite the author's tendency to stray a bit far into humanistic realms than I choose to follow, I moved on to read this book's prequel: 'Flow'.