Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13699 in Books
• Published on: 1998-04-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

From Library Journal
While many self-help books purport to tell readers how to find happiness, few such titles can claim to be based on any scientifically valid, large-scale studies. One of the happy exceptions was University of Chicago psychologist Csikszentmihalyi's Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (LJ 3/15/90). There the author published the results of studies using the Experience Sampling Method (ESM), in which he found that people were happiest when most absorbed in their actions, a state the author termed flow. The current book (part of Basic's series purporting to present "a crystallization of a lifetime's work and thought" by noted scholars) presents similar material, but with an emphasis slightly shifted toward practical applications of the ESM findings. Public librarians should check their shelves: if their copies of Flow are tattered or nonexistent, they should definitely buy this new title; if they have a decent copy of the older book, this is still a recommended purchase. Academic libraries need to have the author's more scholarly book but will find this popular with undergraduates.?Mary Ann Hughes, Neill P.L., Pullman, Wash.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The New York Times Book Review, Jacqueline Boone
Csikszentmihalyi eloquently argues that living fully in the here and now requires that one heed the lessons of the past and acknowledge that today's most seemingly trivial acts inevitably have an impact on the future.

The New York Times Book Review, Jacqueline Boone
Although the assertions occasionally smack of hyperbole and overgeneralization, Csikszentmihalyi's message encompasses an inspiring and challenging truth...

Customer Reviews

Slow Flow
In _Finding Flow_, Cziszentmihalyi repeats the same concepts and even a few examples used in his previous book _Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience_. He introduces the concept of "flow" as essentially the mental state in which one is inspired, challenged, focused and capable all at once. Someone experiencing "flow" frequently loses track of time and worries while being completely alert to the activities engaging them. The author uses NUMEROUS examples to prove his argument, yet his conclusions are not always convincing (for example, he dismisses the accuracy of self-reports by teenagers who claim to experience more "flow" and less happiness-- while relying on these same self-reports to claim "autotelic" (in the "flow") teenagers are more satisfied).

I suppose the book might be enlightening for those who have rarely experienced "flow" and wouldn't think to examine their experiences for it. I have been feeling less focused and less creative lately, so I was hoping to learn some new, practical strategies for improvement.

Some worthwhile points:
* Learn to re-frame your experiences so that they feel "willed" (in a healthy way)

* Examine your daily activities for the ones that show recognizable elements of flow; add more of these activities to your life, if you can, or try to turn less enjoyable activities into games

* Take interest in being disinterested. Do things for the sake of doing them, for the process and not for the result.

* Do more housework if you are a man, less if you are a woman.

Altogether, the book is rated 3 stars for a mediocre attempt at a worthwhile topic. Few examples and more analysis would have made the argument much more convincing.

When you have your fastball working
If you can remember an instant in your youth when everything seemed to be going perfectly, you understand Flow. This book is a very good way to learn about Flow and work. How how to get back that felling from your past.

A Great Read for Anyone
I absolutely loved this book. It's not a self-help book by any means. It goes beyond that. There are reasons why we love or hate anything we do, and this book goes into detail to answer the great question, "Why?"

Seems like common sense, but it's not for most people. When you begin to understand why you love to do things and hate to do others, you can begin to enrich your life to enhance your overall experience on this planet.