Flow Research on Creativity
Flow research confirms what those of us doing the 28-Day Flow Challenges have noticed in our own lives–creative flow can lead to improved health, creativity, and emotional well-being. Below is an overview of the latest flow research, including key findings on creative flow, well-being, intrinsic motivation, confidence, purpose.
Creative Flow and Peak Performance
This is one of the best videos (only 4 minutes) I have seen about creative flow research including how it was discovered by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and flow’s link to learning, concentration, and enjoyment.
Source: BrainFacts.org
Research Shows Flow Helps Us Access Calm
Csikszentmihalyi believed “small routines, such as doodling, that we use to relieve the stress or boredom of everyday life…hold important clues for the understanding of human experience.” Flow research shows creative activities could be a highly-resourceful, innate way to integrate and protect us from traumatic experiences of life. Flow experiences provide clues to how our minds and hearts recover, focus, and thrive.
Sources: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (New York: Harper & Row, 1990); Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Beyond Boredom and Anxiety: Experiencing Flow in Work and Play, 25th Anniversary Edition (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2000)
Creativity and Mental Wellness Flow Research
The following flow research is consistent with my own research and interviews conducted while writing my book The Flow Habit: Creating Peace, Passion, Purpose, and Everyday Miracles (Hay House/Penguin Random House), and feedback from those who have been participating in my 28-Day Flow Challenges.
Research Shows Flow Improves Mental Health
Similar to experiences reported by those participating in my 28-Day Flow Challenges, in flow research during the early COVID lockdowns in China, those who did activities that helped them experience high levels of flow reported positive benefits to their well-being: they did not experience the same levels of worry and negative emotions, loneliness, or symptoms of anxiety and depression, and did not resort to the unhealthy behaviors (such as eating junk food, smoking, or drinking alcohol) used by those who didn’t experience much flow.
Sources: Laurie Smith, The Flow Habit, Hay House/Penguin Random House, page xxiii.
Kate Sweeny et al., “Flow in the Time of COVID-19: Findings from China,” PLoS ONE 15, no. 11 (2020): e0242043,
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242043/
Creative Flow Research: Flow Boosts Well-Being
Flow research showed those who engaged in creative pursuits during the early stages of the pandemic “reported higher levels of self-esteem, optimism, and positive affect. In contrast, those who pursued fewer creative outlets had higher levels of depression and anxiety, were higher in boredom proneness, and reported experiencing more negative affect.” These researchers looked at “whether the tendency to engage in everyday creative pursuits (e.g., making your own greeting cards) would act as a prophylactic against poor well-being.”
This study revealed something important: boredom proneness is a risk factor for depression and anxiety. People who get bored easily and don’t engage in creative outlets are more likely to struggle with negative emotions.
Source: Brosowsky, N.P., Barr, N., Mugon, J., Scholer, A.A., Seli, P., & Danckert, J. (2022). Creativity, Boredom Proneness and Well-Being in the Pandemic. Behavioral Sciences, 12(3), 368. DOI: 10.3390/bs12030068
Why This Matters for Flow and Resilience
The antidote? Flow habits! Simple, everyday creative acts — journaling, sketching, making music, or crafting — can spark flow and help you feel more grounded and resilient. The research shows that it’s not about being “good” at what you do; it’s about getting absorbed and enjoying the process.
If you’re ready to experience the benefits of creative flow and everyday creativity, start small. Choose a flow habit you can do in just five to ten minutes a day. Pick a creative habit that excites you and has a high chance of helping you experience a flow state. Make it part of your daily routine. For more guidance, practical exercises, and research-backed strategies, check out my book The Flow Habit, which shows how to turn flow into a habit for lasting happiness, well-being, and creativity.
Flow Research Shows Creative Flow Improves Mood and Motivation
A daily creativity habit is linked to a “high positive affect.” In everyday English, that means high energy, full concentration, and pleasurable engagement. The below study proved what many of us have learned firsthand while doing 28-Day Flow Challenges together–creative activities boost our moods.
Over 13 days, 658 young adults tracked how much time they spent on creative activities and reported their mood and sense of flourishing. The findings? On days when people spent more time on creative activities than usual, they experienced higher positive emotions and a greater sense of well-being the following day. Interestingly, feeling good one day didn’t predict more creative activity the next — the boost comes specifically from the creative action itself.
Why This Matters for Flow and Mental Health
Flow research shows that this state not only makes the activity enjoyable but also strengthens your emotional resilience and motivation. The Conner et al. study provides strong evidence that everyday creativity isn’t just fun — it actively contributes to your mental well-being.
Source: Conner, T. S., DeYoung, C. G., & Silvia, P. J. (2018). Everyday creative activity as a path to flourishing. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 13(2), 181–189. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2016.1257049
Research on Flow and Cortisol Levels
A study exploring the effects of art-making on healthy adults found that even a single 45-minute session, structured like an art therapy experience, could lower cortisol levels, a biological marker of stress. Art-makers provided a saliva test before and after spending 45-minutes making art. Art-makers also provided written feedback about their experiences.
This flow research study showed very cool results. Art making resulted in statistically significant lowering of cortisol levels (by testing the saliva). Participants also shared they found their art-making sessions to be “relaxing, enjoyable, helpful for learning about new aspects of self, freeing from constraints, an evolving process of initial struggle to later resolution, and about flow/losing themselves in the work.”
That pretty much sums up what you all have been saying about our flow challenges too (although maybe not exactly in those words). The art-makers also reflected they wanted to make more art in the future, which speaks to the positive and addictive nature of flow and creative habits.
Why This Matters for Flow and Stress
The findings highlight something important: creativity isn’t just enjoyable, it’s physiologically beneficial.
Source: Kaimal, G., Ray, K., & Muniz, J. (2016). Reduction of cortisol levels and participants’ responses following art making. Art Therapy, 33(2), 74–80. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/07421656.2016.1166832
Research Suggests Creative Flow May Protect Against Trauma
The ability to make meaning out of our difficult experiences can be a life-changing skill, leading to greater resilience and a more positive outlook. This study aimed to “connect mini, little, Pro, and Big creative behaviors with our attempts to make meaning of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and…to suggest how engaging in creative expression can be used to guard against the adverse consequences of this outbreak.” In addition, the authors “propose how engaging in creativity can serve to buffer against the negative effects of living through the pandemic.”
Two of my favorites–Abraham Maslow, creator of the hierarchy of needs model, and Vikor Frankl, holocaust survivor and author of Man’s Search For Meaning are mentioned in this article, as well as all the different ways creativity can help us to better grapple with stress. It also included this quote.
Why This Matters for Flow and Trauma
When you lose yourself in painting, writing, crafting, or even cooking, you’re giving yourself a chance to reflect, explore, and express your inner world. This kind of immersion helps you see value in your actions and experiences, boosting your mood and giving life a sense of purpose. Sharing creative experiences with others—like visiting a museum, performing, or showing your work—can also deepen your sense of connection, reinforcing that what you create resonates beyond yourself. This research paper shows how creativity can help you turn ordinary moments into something meaningful, giving you a positive sense of confidence, allowing you to take your power back even from trauma.
Source: Kapoor, H., & Kaufman, J. C. (2020). Meaning-making through creativity during COVID-19. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 595990. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7775492/
Research Suggests Flow Lessens Pain
In a study led by Monica Beals, a dissertation candidate at Riverside University in California, patients suffering from chronic pain spent 15 minutes per day engaging in either a Flow Activity or a mindfulness activity; the third group went about life as usual. Both flow and mindfulness were shown to be beneficial in decreasing the patients’ awareness of their symptoms of pain. My book The Flow Habit includes interviews with a dentist whose Parkinson’s disease symptoms disappeared during intense flow states experienced while performing dental work, as well as others whose PTSD symptoms disappeared.
Why This Matters for Flow and Healing
Research suggests that the flow state isn’t just linked to emotional well-being, but can also have positive effects on physical well-being as well. We are just beginning to understand the implications for how creative flow and the flow state may positively affect our health.
Sources: Laurie Smith, The Flow Habit, Hay House/Penguin Random House, pp. 184-189;
Beals, Monica. Flowing Through Pain: Flow as a Tool to Manage Chronic Pain. PhD diss., University of California,
Riverside, 2023, https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8c73w242/
Prescribing Flow Activities Improves Mental Well-being in UK
A fascinating research review of more than 17 scientific studies assessed initiatives in the UK to improve mental health while also cutting costs. Each looked at social prescriptive programs where physicians connected at-risk patients with local community programs offering art or exercise programs, or that were in need of volunteers. The idea was that prescribing pleasurable activities and connecting patients with specific community services to do so could mitigate potential risk to mental wellness.
The programs included: the following: “Arts on Prescription”; “Books on Prescription” / “Bibliotherapy”; “Education on Prescription”; and “Exercise Referral/Exercise on Prescription”; lesser known models include “Green Gyms” and other “Healthy Living Initiatives”; Sign Posting’/“Information Referral”; “Supported Referral”; and “Time Banks”.
Overall findings were positive. Positive outcomes associated with enjoyable hobbies included increases in self-esteem and confidence, mood, reduction in symptoms associated with anxiety and depression, improvement in physical health, reduction in return visits to physicians, and an increase in sociability, communication skills, learning new skills, optimism and feeling hopeful and motivated.
Two Types of Creativity and Their Role in Flow
So, there’s creativity and then there’s CREATIVITY. One’s not better than the other, just different. As in, they feel different in the brain. This study talks about the difference between when our creative activity feels like it’s happening through us–like channeling, free-flow writing, or any form of improvisation–versus when it feels like we are working harder at our creative activity.
One can certainly lead to the other, and the more we practice, the more we build skills that enable us to slip into flow. In other words, all the activities you’ve been doing during our 28-Day Flow Challenges are ALL GOOD! (And scientifically beneficial for our mental and physical health based on all of the studies on this page.)
This study talks a little about both ways of doing creative work and shows what happened in the brain jazz while musicians improvised, the form of creativity where creative decisions feel almost like they are coming from a source beyond the individual. Researchers looked at jazz musicians and discovered that improvisation was “consistently characterized by a dissociated pattern of activity in the prefrontal cortex: extensive deactivation of dorsolateral prefrontal and lateral orbital regions with focal activation of the medial prefrontal (frontal polar) cortex.”
Flow’s impact on the brain is continually being studied and new findings uncovered all the time. What I like about this study is that it focuses on spontaneous creativity, which we talk about a lot in our 28-Day Flow Challenges.
Research Shows Creative Hobbies Improve Mental Health
This study fascinated me. First of all, it’s a really good one because it’s longitudinal (studies adults over a long period of time) and involved lots of people (16,642 middle-aged adults, age 50-59 at baseline), from a population-based, six-year panel survey.
In a nutshell, having hobbies improved mental health for women aged 50-59 whether or not the hobbies were done alone or with others. Men also saw improvements from hobbies. For men, however, it was more important to do their activities with others. For women, social interaction was more important for physical, sports-related hobbies, where creative hobbies done alone or with others offered benefits.
It was also interesting that socializing alone (including caring for children, elderly family members or socializing in general) did not show up as offering significant mental health benefits for either gender in this age bracket.
The fact that this study was conducted by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare suggests that Japan may be ahead of the game when it comes to prioritizing the connection between lifestyle and mental health.
Hobbies and Flow Improve Overall Health in Elderly
Ever wonder if creative hobbies will keep us healthier as we age? The quick answer? Yes! The below study is a longitudinal one and looked at more than 600 elderly adults living independently and used ADLs (activities of daily living like walking, dressing, feeding themselves, bathing, etc.) as an assessment of overall health as related to their involvement in hobbies. Hobbies made a significant positive difference in overall well-being, physical health and abilities, and independence.
“Elderly people without hobbies had significantly lower scores on each item of ADLs than did people with hobbies. Also, elderly people without hobbies exhibited significantly higher scores for depression, significantly lower scores for frequency of laughter, and significantly lower scores for subjective QOL (quality of life).”
Source:
Research on Flow vs. Mindfulness
This is an incredibly compelling study in favor of finding and sticking with activities that get us into creative flow! This one specifically looks at some of the longer-term lockdowns experienced in Wuhan and other major cities during the start of the pandemic. Participants completed an online survey assessing their experiences with flow, mindfulness, and well-being. No surprise: longer quarantine was associated with poorer well-being.
What helped? Flow and mindfulness. “However, flow—but not mindfulness—moderated the link between quarantine length and well-being, such that people who experienced high levels of flow showed little or no association between quarantine length and poorer well-being.” (Go FLOW! 😊)
Flow in the time of COVID-19: Findings from China | PLOS ONE
COVID Raised Awareness of Mental Health Issues
For those of us who were already stressed out about things in our lives that were beyond our control, the pandemic was like icing on the cake. This report cites that “during the pandemic, nearly half of US adults reported symptoms of anxiety or depression.” In addition, self-reported insomnia increased by 20%.
The good news is, there is now a worldwide call to action to do more to improve our mental health, including de-stigmatizing mental health symptoms and normalizing seeking support. This report will hopefully play a role in activating change.
Self-advocacy was suggested as being extremely important. It’s also nice to know that, in addition to getting support from healthcare professionals, there are many simple steps like starting new creative hobbies that people can take to improve their own well-being.
The pandemic has made mental wellness a public health must | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)
Study Shows Creative Hobbies Increase During Pandemic
This survey by Lending Tree had some interesting findings about COVID and hobbies. Here’s a quick summary:
- 6 in 10 Americans tried a new hobby during the pandemic
- Top hobbies included reading (61%), baking or cooking (36%), gardening (30%), meditation (29%) and writing (26%).
- 8 in 10 said they’ll continue with their hobby even after the pandemic is over.
59% of Americans Took on a New Hobby During Pandemic
Mental Health Recommendations from Medical Perspective (USA)
This is an interesting article with recommendations specific to the pandemic as to how individuals can take care of their mental health. It reflects the United State’s medical industry’s perspective and best known practices for this time. Creative hobbies are recommended under the general heading “stay busy.”
COVID-19 and your mental health – Mayo Clinic
Learning from History: The Depression and Hobbies
This article explores the increase in hobbies seen during the Great Depression, which gave individuals a valuable sense of purpose and control over the direction of their lives.
A Job You Can’t Lose: Work and Hobbies in the Great Depression
Experts Claim We are ALL Creative! 😊
If you want to geek out on psychological theories of creativity (I love this stuff!), here’s a good place to start.
The authors of this one call creativity “a decision that anyone can make.” (Love that! Yes, we are ALL creative!) They also conclude that reasons more people don’t engage in creative activities are because the costs are too high, and: “society can play a role in the development of creativity by increasing the rewards and decreasing the costs.”
I’ve got to be honest, after facilitating more than 20 of these flow challenges for almost three years now and seeing all the creative and affordable ways people come up with to work creativity into their lives, I believe the general lack of awareness of health benefits of creative activities is an important factor when it comes to overcoming resistance to doing creative activities.
Historically, there was similar resistance to making time for physical exercise and meditation before widely publicized scientific data and communication campaigns about proven health benefits shifted (and continues to shift) that resistance. I also have noticed that our own inner beliefs and self-judgements can be blocks to creativity and prioritizing doing creative activities. I talk a lot more about the personal side of what gets in our way of creative flow in my new book, as well as prompts and tools to help.
Sternberg, R. (2006). The Nature of Creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 18(1), pp.87-98.
Yes, We Are ALL Creative
This article explores how science is constantly evolving and humans are constantly reinventing themselves, expanding and growing. Not only does this article reinforce the idea that we are ALL creative based on a huge body of research, it also acts as a reminder of how young the fields of creativity and flow research really are, how much we don’t know, and the extent to which scientific theory on creativity and flow will likely continue to unfold in the generations to come.
Call for More Research on Flow and Creativity
This white-paper by the Flow Research Collective details a survey completed by approximately 600 subscribers to an email list, in which individuals were divided into two groups. One group was asked to remember an event during which they were “not in flow, but not too cognitively stuck.” The other group was asked to recall a “creative experience when they were in flow.” Both groups filled out the same questions about their remembered experiences.
Flow and Creativity – White Paper.pdf
The most compelling finding was that clear goals, sense of control, and loss of self-consciousness were not correlated with self-reported memories of being in creative flow, although these have been identified as markers in studies looking at other forms of flow.
When it comes to the difference in a sense of “clear goals,” in my experience artists often have clear goals, however they often seem to be more internal rather than external (such as following how they are feeling intuitively led or getting to an inner “feeling of flow: being the goal itself rather than a marker than is more easily measured by an outside researcher looking in).
This survey suggests a need for further research to understand creative flow and forms of flow that more internally-driven and understood. This is a continual challenge in the field of flow research, which is why they majority of findings and conclusions have been done on activities that are easier to measure and understand from the outside looking. This is also why sports and video games are the activities on which the majority of flow research and findings has been based to date.
However, as we know from Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s initial research into flow, humans can experience a flow state doing any activity at all. Flow is most likely there is some level of challenge or an activity is associated with personal growth or meaning. A key marker of flow is the enjoyment experienced, not the outer results produced.
Research on Nature and Stress Management
Meditation Science-Backed Benefits
Extensive research has suggested that mindfulness, creative visualization, relaxation techniques, and meditation are all beneficial in helping to manage emotional stress, symptoms associated with anxiety and depression, pain management, as well as many other areas of health as well, such as lowering blood pressure and improving cancer treatment outcomes. This is an overview of some of these studies. Research is ongoing.
How Meditation May Change the Brain
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health’s Overview of Meditation
100 Benefits of Meditation – Parade Magazine
2014 JAMA Meta-analysis Shows Meditation Moderately Improves Anxiety, Depression and Pain
20 Studies Show Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Improves Health
4-Year Follow-Up Study Shows MBSR Has Positive Long-Term Effects
Reiki and Meditation Self-Care Program for Nurses Improved Problem Solving
Research Shows Journaling Improves Emotional Wellness
This study showed that journaling can improve symptoms related to a traumatic event when the focus is not just processing emotions, but also making sense of those emotions or described as “cognitions” as well. This correlates to other research showing that making meaning of traumatic events improves long-term mental health outcomes.
Study on Journaling on Emotions and Cognitions versus Just Emotions
Following are some additional interesting studies regarding the benefits of journaling on resilience, anxiety, depression, performance, and overall quality of life.
Study in Nurses Showed Journaling Improved Ability to Manage Stress
Journaling Immediately After Stressful Event May Improve Long-term QOL
Online Journal Associated with Lower Anxiety and Depression Symptoms and More Resilience
Science-Backed Mental Health Benefits of Optimism
This is an overview of psychological research on the benefits of optimism, which is defined as assuming a positive outcome, a tendency to hope, to see the world as more positive than the negative, or the tendency to assume oneself as more apt to have positive outcomes than others.
Across the board, “there is evidence that optimistic people present a higher quality of life compared to those with low levels of optimism or even pessimists. Optimism may significantly influence mental and physical well-being by the promotion of a healthy lifestyle as well as by adaptive behaviours and cognitive responses, associated with greater flexibility, problem-solving capacity and a more efficient elaboration of negative information.”
Optimism and Its Impact on Mental and Physical Well-Being
Research on Group Flow
Sync or sink? Interpersonal synchrony impacts self-esteem – PMC (nih.gov)
Research on How We Work Best
Overview of research on the mental health benefit of taking breaks and work-life balance (apa.org)
Creative Flow Benefits and Brain Function
There is a huge amount of research currently being done at the present time to try to learn more about exactly what happens in the brain, both in terms of areas activated and neurotransmitters and chemicals released, during flow states. Theories are constantly emerging based on new technologies such as brain scans.
Steven Kotler’s book The Rise of Superman popularized ideas about what might be happening in the brain during flow, including associated chemicals that are likely released during flow, such as dopamine, adrenaline, seratonin, etc. Evidence is compelling but far from conclusive based on what we currently know about brain function, but much more research is needed before confirmed.
Flow State and Creativity Research Resources
2014 Talk on The Secrets of Happiness by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
2004 Ted Talk by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi on benefits of flow
Theories About Dopamine and Flow, Discussion of What is Not Yet Proven
Studies on Prefrontal Cortex and Flow
Kotler article in Psychology Today re Brain Function During Flow and Creativity
Cortisol, Flow and Brain Function
Caffeine, Dopamine, Brain Function and Flow
Flow and Brain Function – Study on Tightrope Performer
Brain Imaging and Flow States to Identify Brain Function During Flow
Pupil Dilation as Predictor of Brain Activity in Gamblers – Flow Research
Brain Imaging During Sports and Flow
Meta-analysis of Flow and Altered Experience of Time
Noradrenaline’s Function in Processing During Flow States – Theory
Historical and Scientific Overview of Flow (ScienceDirect.com)
Review of Research on Flow States and Neuroscience ~ Behavioral Science
Neuroscience of the Flow State – April 2021
Activity in the Brain During Flow – 2014
(PDF) The Neuroscience of Flow (researchgate.net)
Flow in Formula 1 Drivers Results (published research)
Yet another reason sports are good for you (published research)
Effects of confidence and anxiety on flow state in competition – PubMed (nih.gov)
Blogger Regarding Making Flow a Habit
Q&A About Flow and Brain Function – Kotler
Athletics and Chemicals Associated with Flow – Kotler Blog Article in Psychology Today
Books on Creativity and Flow Research
Barron, Frank, Creativity and Psychological Health, Origins of Personal Vitality and Creative Freedom, Princeton, NJ, D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc., 1963.
Csikszentmihalyi, M., Creativity: The Psychology of Discovery and Invention, New York City, NY, Harper Perennial, 1997.
Csikszentmihalyi, M., Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, New York City, NY, Harper Perennial, 1990.
Pink, D.H., A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, New York City, NY, Riverhead Books, 2006.
Simonton, D.K., Origins of Genius: Darwinian Perspectives on Creativity, New York City, NY, Oxford University Press, 1999.
Scott, B.K. and Gregoire, C., Wired to Create: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind, New York City, NY, TarcherPerigee, 2016.
Smith, L., The Flow Habit: Creating Peace, Passion, Purpose, and Everyday Miracles, Carlsbad, CA, Hay House/Penguin Random House, 2025.
