On Finding Flow
Falling down rabbit holes
I have an obsessive personality.
When I fall into an interest I completely immerse myself into it. Earlier this year, I became enamored with chess and I’ve played over 1,000 games in that time period.
Not only that but I watched YouTube videos, studied different tactics, watched The Queen’s Gambit, and ran drills on my own chess board while taking notes.
I’ve fallen into similar obsessive spirals with cooking, certain video games, exercise, writing, and a number of other things I’m probably forgetting about in the moment.
But I never truly experienced flow until I started woodworking.
In early 2021 after I moved into my first home, I decided I was going to build a bar. Now, I have zero background in building things. I would never have considered myself to be a handy person. But, over the course of a few weeks I put together a project I was proud of and acquired some new skills. Here’s how it turned out:
After I built the bar my interest in woodworking came to a pause. I moved on to other home improvement projects; installing laminate flooring, designing a back deck, and applying paint to bland rooms among other random undertakings. For all of these things my interest in them was always the end result. I typically enjoyed the process (except installing floor, flooring sucks) but ultimately my motivation was to see my home improved.
A few weeks ago I caught the home improvement bug again while my friends and I were playing a board game in my living room. We were playing an expansive game of Catan on this small, round coffee table. Our pieces nearly fell off the end of the table, we had no space to roll the dice, and our drinks had to be placed on the floor and guarded from wondering dogs.
It struck me that I could probably build my own coffee table and make it custom fit to be perfect for my living room. I dusted off my miter saw and went to work. In a few days I came out of my garage with this:
Completing this project had a different affect on me than any other previous projects. I enjoyed the end result but I found myself craving the process after finishing. After a few days I needed something else to work on. The process of working through a design, thinking through problems, and seeing a project coming together was so meditative for me that a didn’t feel right without it. I decided to build a bookshelf and came out with this:
Since then I’ve completely fallen down the rabbit hole. Every day for the last three weeks I finish my job and immediately head out to my garage and begin working. During that time I’m not distracted by anything. I’m intensely focused on the challenge in front of me. I’m continuously taking on projects that are just beyond the limits of my ability. Inevitably, I take a look around and its dark in my garage and I’ve been dialed in for four hours even though it feels like only thirty minutes have past.
I’ve made a desk, another bookshelf, and I’m working on a cabinet at the moment.
I realized that my work in the garage more closely fits the textbook definition of flow than anything else I’ve ever done.
According to The Art of Impossible by Steven Kotler flow takes the following definition:
Flow is defined as an optimal state of consciousness, a state where you feel your best and perform your best. More specifically, the term refers to those moments of rapt attention and total absorption, when you get so focused on the task at hand that everything else disappears. Action and awareness merge. Your sense of self vanishes. Your sense of time distorts (either, typically, speeds up; or, occasionally, slows down). And throughout, all aspects of performance, both mental and physical, go through the roof.
When I’m working I am completely focused on the task in front of me whether it’s making a perfectly straight cut, connecting joints, or applying stain. My mind is dialed in to finding solutions and creating results with the limited tools I have. And mostly, when I’m woodworking I have zero sense of time. There isn’t enough hours in the day.
I’ve tried a lot of hobbies and none of them have made me as intensely focused as this. I would have never thought that this would be the thing that allowed me to channel into the flow states I’ve read about.
Ultimately, it’s hard for us to judge our interests and find our passions without trying new things and discovering it for ourselves. If you find yourself in a spot where you feel stuck, or bored, or listless I encourage you to pick up a hobby, even one you never believed you would have found interest in. Any amount of time you can spend away from your phone, or TV, or anything else that drains your time without providing any value to your life is worth exploring.
I probably have more to say on the subject but I’d really like to go get the second coating of polyurethane on the bookshelf I’m building for a friend before my lunch break ends so I’m going to end it here.
Try something new, you just might fall into a deep obsession and find your flow state.
Happy exploring!
Shameless Plug: I’m actively looking for new projects to take on. If you are in need of any furniture or have an idea that feels financially out of your reach I am taking commissions. Since I’m still learning, I’m willing to build things for just slightly more than what the materials cost. I can build bars, bookshelves, coffee tables, cabinets, etc for about 70% less than what you’d pay a big box furniture store and with higher quality materials. Send me an email or text me if you’re interested: waretrevor@gmail.com.
