Picture an athlete or a musician, and how these may be absorbed in their respective activities.

The rest of the world seems to pale in front of what they are doing. For them, there is nothing else; how diligent and passionate their performance is.

Whereas the world has many fields, rules, exceptions, and whatnot, we create in our particular activity a dimension of our own; the playfield is smaller, some clear rules and boundaries make it more conquerable, and the sensation of mastery is closer.

What if we could replicate such an experience with common, or less artistic activities? By understanding what immersive activities have in common, we can accomplish this.

External conditions

The immersive activity is characterized by a lack of distractions, and clear objectives, rules, and feedback.

The absence of buzzing notifications and a quiet environment allows our attention to be solely directed to the action, thus avoiding the giant toll that switching tasks has on us.

On the other hand, in immersive activities, we have a concrete idea of what we desire to accomplish, how to do it, and receive direct indicators of whether it has been done correctly.

A gymnast has the objective of doing acrobatics, through a coach or self-learning, she knows the theory of how the movement should be done, and finally, she receives immediate feedback on her practice when she falls or succeeds in her landing.

Internal conditions

There are also changes in ourselves with immersive activities; There is no internal noise, time seems to go faster, and the difficulty is set perfectly to our skill.

Internal noise is different than the external; worries, thoughts, doubts, everything vanishes. It is exactly what I meant in “‘Everything is boring’, we think wrongly”, we get out of our way. We would not find “a gymnast” and “a leap” separated, they merge into one, and there is no distinction.

In the same way, time seems to disappear as well; hours of training and sore muscles seem like nothing.

Finally, our gymnast would perform acrobatics according to her level. She adapts her routine so that it is not big enough to be daunting, or small to be boring, just enough to represent a challenge. This implies the need to constantly balance the difficulty we experience.

Not everything will feel magical

Until now, these absorbing activities are fantastic; the world they provide is unique for each of us, and the sensation of execution is sublime. However, negative experiences are also part of them.

Our gymnast will have to go through the inherent hardships of her art: the frustration of not accomplishing a posture, injuries, or having to focus on less exciting aspects such as nutrition or resting.

When we become aware of this, instead of being a hindrance, we find relief. Hardships are not necessarily an indicator of something wrong with us or the activity, but part of the process. There will be ups and downs. Some may have the fortune to enjoy obstacles. Our gymnast may recognize a fall as a priceless opportunity for growth.

Convert what you do in an absorbing activity

Take your particular action, even if it is not artistic, try to recognize the inherent characteristics of an absorbing activity, and imitate them.

• Do you have a clear what and how?
• Do you understand the rules of the game you are playing?
• Are you learning from the feedback the world is giving you?
• Are you free of noise? The internal swarm of thoughts in your head as much as the myriad forces that tear apart from every angle your attention.
• Can you tell when something is too hard, or easy, and adjust the difficulty accordingly?

Focus on just one at a time. In this way, we can enjoy more the activity and be more effective.