Can you recall a time when you were totally absorbed in your in an activity; a time when you felt strong and positive, not worried about yourself or about failing? If so, chances are that you were experiencing flow.

But what is flow and how relevant is it the business world?

There are several defining features of flow which I will examine in future articles. But one of the clearest indications of flow is total absorption in the task at hand. This state of mind is critical to success in any endeavour. It's obviously important to stay focused in situations where outcomes matter. You wouldn't want a surgeon performing an operation on you while his mind is on his last round of golf.

However, in our technology-driven, fast-paced world today, our minds are often anything but focused; caught between the many competing demands we are often expected to deal with simultaneously. In Buddhist terms, we find ourselves in the state of monkey-mind, unable to sustain our attention on one thing for more than a few moments at a time; our mind is like a monkey jumping from tree to tree.

In contrast to this, scattered mind-set is the complete task focus of flow. Increasingly, psychology is recognising that the study of mind and behaviour is not solely an enterprise devoted to working with people when things go wrong.

Understanding the mind when it is functioning at it's best, and the factors associated with optimal performance are key goals of this burgeoning field of positive psychology. Martin Seligman, past president of the American Psychological Association, was quoted in Time Magazine as promoting the +5 goal. Dissatisfied with the pre-occupation with mental ills, Seligman suggested that psychology should not restrict its focus on moving people “from a minus 5 to zero, but instead look at how to help people get from zero to plus.

The state of flow does not guarantee optimal outcomes, but does make them more likely. For many years, business has sought out the secrets of elite athletes, paying large sums to hear the strategies of those who have made it to the top in the world of sport.

There are of course many such attributes—hard work, determination, a good support network . . . the list is long, and there are no easy answers to be found on the road to the top. However, defining the champion athlete is a resolute mind-set, one that never wavers from its goal. Such resolute focus can lead to a state of complete task absorption that takes the performer into the +5 zone. Â

Athletes know this state as the zone. Psychology calls it flow. Whatever the name, it is a state you will want to know if your work success depends on an ability to stay focused in the present moment.