Finding Flow: The Psychology Of Engagement With Everyday Life

(Paperback)

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Part psychological study, part self-help book, Finding Flow is a prescriptive guide that helps us reclaim ownership of our lives. Based on a far-reaching study of thousands of individuals, Finding Flow contends that we often walk through our days unaware and out of touch with our emotional lives. Our inattention makes us constantly bounce between two extremes: during much of the day we live filled with the anxiety and pressures of our work and obligations, while during our leisure moments, we tend to live in passive boredom. The key, according to Csikszentmihalyi, is to challenge ourselves with tasks requiring a high degree of skill and commitment. Instead of watching television, play the piano. Transform a routine task by taking a different approach. In short, learn the joy of complete engagement. Thought they appear simple, the lessons in Finding Flow are life-altering.

Reviews

"Csikszentmihalyi eloquently argues that living fully in the here and now requires that one heed the lessons of the past."--New York Times Book Review
"Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has a genius for illuminating phenomena that perplex most behavioral scientists. In this brilliant synthesis, he shows how all of us can enhance our work, our play, our lives."--Howard Gardner, author of Multiple Intelligences
"Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is a man obsessed by happiness."--Richard Flaste, New York Times Magazine
"This famous psychologist of 'peak experience' returns to the themes of his 1990 classic, Flow, how to reach the peak through focused energy, and how humans mark the universe in unique ways-but this time the explanation is shorter, sharper, and far more accessible."--Utne Reader

Author Bio

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is professor of psychology and education at the University of Chicago. He is the author of a number of books, including the bestselling Flow, The Evolving Self, Creativity, and Being Adolescent.