Designed for Use, 2nd Edition

Chapter 21 Don’t Interrupt

In his book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience [Csi02], psychology professor Mihály Csíkszentmihályi explained that when people are completely absorbed by an activity they are doing, they reach a state of total focus that he calls flow. When people talk about “being in the zone,” they are often talking about that state of complete, single-minded immersion in a task.

It usually takes us a bit of time to “get into the groove,” and it’s often easy to pull us out again. Maybe I’m completely immersed in writing this chapter, but suddenly—bing—goes the computer. I think, “New email!” and then spend the next five ...