The Energy Challenge: How Losing Yourself in A Task Can Boost Your Mood

This is Day 5 of the 6-Day Energy Challenge. To start at the beginning, click here.

For the past few months, I have been conducting an experiment: Instead of scrolling through social media after work, which vaguely entertained me but didn’t make me feel very good, I’ve been putting my phone away and doing things that feel more like play.

After a few misses (macramé is not my jam), I tried flower pressing and loved it. I pick flowers that have a single layer of petals, place them between pieces of newspaper or parchment paper, then close them between the pages of a book until they are dry, at which point I glue them onto a board or frame.

The whole process is fun: scouting for the flowers, checking to see if they’ve dried, humming absent-mindedly as I arrange them. I usually feel rested and invigorated after a session with my flowers.

Apparently, I’ve been entering a flow state, which is a period of intense focus that comes from being completely absorbed in an activity. Flow states occur when you’re doing something challenging, but not so difficult that it’s stressful, according to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the positive psychology pioneer who coined the term. When you’re in flow, time and self-consciousness melt away.

Dr. Sue Varma, a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at the N.Y.U. Grossman School of Medicine, said this occurs for her when she’s salsa dancing. “It’s not a matter of whether I’m good at it or not,” she said. “In that moment, I’m transported.”

When you enter flow, she explained, “you are being flooded with neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine and dopamine, which make you feel alert, engaged and motivated.”

It can happen within minutes, but there’s no clear time frame for entering flow, said David Melnikoff, an assistant professor of organizational behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. It depends on how complicated the task is and how familiar you are with doing it. No matter how long it takes, there’s evidence that people who experience flow have less work-related burnout and emotional exhaustion.

Find your low-stakes flow state.

Today, we’re in search of flow states that don’t require a lot of effort but have a big payoff: Call them “low-stakes flow states.”

Go flow hunting.

Write down five of the most deeply immersive moments you had last year. Where were you and what were you doing? Do those moments have anything in common? Maybe they all took place outdoors, or involved other people. This list can help you figure out what gets you in the flow.

Your past interests and hobbies can also provide clues. What did you love to do when you were younger? If you could go back to school for a year, what would you study?

Once you’ve identified what lights you up (or has the potential to), block out 15 minutes today to try it, Dr. Varma said. You’ll probably need to “play around and experiment a bit” to figure out which of the things on your list is for you, she said, but that’s part of the process.

Then, at least once a week, try out your new pursuit to stave off burnout and keep your energy levels humming.

Short on ideas (or time)? Here are some suggestions.

If you have five minutes: Learn a few foreign-language phrases on a free app like Duolingo. Or play a mindless game: Dr. Melnikoff likes to toss markers into a recycling bin in his office as if he’s playing basketball. (His record is 13 without a miss.)

If you have 10 minutes: Read a short story or a chapter from your favorite book aloud to another adult (simultaneously reading and speaking requires deep concentration, said Dr. Melnikoff, a key characteristic of flow). Or try a William Morris paint-by-numbers kit.

If you have 20 minutes: Work on an adult Lego set; there’s everything from classic car models to the Taj Mahal. Or draw a picture of your pet.

If you have more than 30 minutes: Give in to your friend who keeps bugging you to play pickleball. Or buy some herb plants, pot them and put them near a sunny window.

My drawing of my tuxedo cat, Tux, is pretty terrible. But it was fun to do, and the world dropped away for a while. He mostly sleeps, so it was a still life.

I’ll be answering your questions in real time today, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Eastern time. What were your favorite parts of the challenge? What surprised you? What motivated you? We’ll be taking questions from here.

Do you know someone who speaks Spanish and would appreciate this challenge? They can follow along here.

Want more flow? Here’s something special from New York Times Games.

Games are the quintessential flow activity. So our colleagues at New York Times Games decided to release a new Tiles palette called Soho to celebrate the 6-Day Energy Challenge. They’ve only done this once before in the game’s five-year history! We are thrilled to share it with you.

Tiles is an absorbing color and pattern-matching game composed of layered shapes. (Here are tips and tricks for becoming top dog at Tiles, from the creator Robert Vinluan.)

Play the game: Tiles