如何在工作時快速進入巔峯狀態

Know that sensation when you're working out or cranking on a project, and time starts to pass quickly, distractions melt away, and you feel like you're in the zone?
有沒有體驗過這樣一種感覺：當你正在從事或啓動一個項目時，時間開始飛逝，雜念迅速消融，你覺得你正處於巔峯狀態？

It's a real biological process, with a large and growing body of research dedicated to figuring it out what makes it work.
這是一個真正的生物學進程，爲數衆多且數量還在增長的研究機構正在設法搞清楚這種狀態的形成機理。

The concept is called flow, a term popularized in the 1990s by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. (Bill Clinton is reportedly a fan.) In a new book called The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance, journalist Steven Kotler takes on the latest research on flow through the lens of action and adventure athletics. Kotler writes primarily about flow in high-stakes sports like surfing -- where focus and concentration can be the difference between a tubular ride and a watery death -- but the concept could also have big implications for the business world. Kotler spoke to Fortune about the science behind flow, its potential to boost workplace productivity, and how to get yourself in the zone.
這個概念被稱爲“心流”(flow)，一個由心理學家米哈里•米哈伊普在上世紀90年代普及開來的術語。（據說美國前總統比爾•克林頓是他的粉絲。）在一本名爲《超人的崛起：解讀人類終極效能的科學》(The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance)的新書中，記者史蒂芬•科特勒透過極限和冒險運動的視角爲我們呈現了心流領域的最新研究成果。科特勒主要探討從事高風險運動時的心流活動——比如衝浪，你究竟是一飛沖天還是跌入水中，關鍵取決於你能否保持專注度和注意力——但這個概念也有可能對商業世界產生重大影響。近日接受《財富》雜誌(Fortune)專訪時，科特勒暢談了心流背後的科學，它推動職場生產力的潛力，以及如何讓你進入巔峯狀態等問題。

Edited excerpts of the conversation follow.
下面是這次採訪的摘要：

Fortune: Why study flow?
《財富》：你爲什麼要研究心流？

Steven Kotler: When I was 30 years old I got very, very sick. I spent three years in bed. The doctors didn't know what was wrong with me. It was surfing and flow states that brought me back to health.
史蒂芬•科特勒：30歲時，我得了一場重病，臥牀3年。醫生們不知道我究竟是哪裏出了問題。正是衝浪和心流狀態讓我恢復了健康。

I thought I was losing my mind because I kept having these quasi-mystical experiences out in the waves, and I was a science writer, and I don't have quasi-mystical experiences. In the beginning I thought, What the hell is going on with me? What I learned later is that the neurochemical experiences produced during flow all boost the immune system and reset the nervous system, which is why it helped with an autoimmune condition, and which explained my otherworldly sensations.
我原以爲我精神錯亂了，因爲我在衝浪時不停地產生這些準神祕色彩的體驗。我是一位科普作家，以前從來沒有過這種感受。開始的時候，我一直在想，我到底是怎麼回事啊？我後來才知道，心流過程產生的神經化學物質可以促進免疫系統，重置神經系統。這就是它爲什麼有助於形成一種自身免疫性狀態，也是讓我產生超凡脫俗之感的原因所在。

The difference was amazing. And I started to realize that the same thing that took me from really sub-optimal -- I was functional for like 10% of the time -- to 80% functional after six months of surfing in frequent flow states, is something that could take somebody who's at normal to higher and higher levels.
前後的差異令人驚歎。我開始意識到，幫助我將身體機能正常運作的時間比重從10%（真正的次優級別）提升至80%（這是6個月的衝浪，頻繁體驗心流狀態的成果）的事物，也能夠把一個正常人的身體機能提升到越來越高的水平。

Can you define flow?
你能給心流下個定義嗎？

Flow is an optimal state of consciousness where we feel our best and perform our best. Here's what you need to know: Flow is a spectrum of experience, like any emotion. There are 10 conditions that describe flow psychology, and they include concentration, the loss of self, and the dilation of time -- or when everything slows down or speeds up. You can be in "micro-flow," where there's only a couple of those things, or you can be in "macro-flow."
心流是意識的一種最佳狀態。在這種狀態下，我們的感受和表現都處於峯值。你需要了解下面這些知識：像任何情緒一樣，心流是一連串體驗。要形成心流，需要10個條件，其中包括專注，自我意識消失，時間的擴張，或者當一切都減慢或加速的時候。你可以處在“微流”狀態（在這種狀態下，你只具備這些條件中的少數幾個），或者你可以處於“宏流”狀態。

When we talk about people at work getting into flow, they're usually getting into micro-flow. If you've ever lost an afternoon to a great conversation, or gotten so sucked into a work project when everything else goes away, that's flow. The experience goes from there up to these sort of quasi-mystical experiences.
當我們說某人在工作時進入心流狀態，他或她通常進入的是微流狀態。如果你不知不覺地跟某人非常盡興地談了一下午，或者心無旁騖地從事一個工作項目，彷彿其他一切都消失了，那就是心流。你的感受從那裏提升至這些帶有準神祕色彩的體驗。

And this is a clinically measurable, physical process?
那麼，這是一種可以在臨牀上測量的物理過程嗎？

Yes. Flow research started probably in the 1800s. What has happened in the last couple years is that we've gotten very good at measuring the neurobiology. That's partially because George Bush declared the '90s the "Decade of the Brain," and money flooded into neuroscience.
是的。心流研究或許從19世紀就開始了。過去這麼多年的主要成果是，我們已經非常擅於測量神經生物學。部分原因在於，喬治•布什宣稱20世紀90年代是“大腦的十年”，大量金錢隨後涌入神經科學研究領域。

So for example, when it feels like your sense of time slows down or speeds up, and your sense of self vanishes -- those sound like new-agey sensations. But we know now that what actually goes on in the brain is something called transient hypofrontality. Transient means temporary, hypo is the opposite of hyper -- it means to slow down or deactivate. And frontality is your prefrontal cortex; it's the part of your brain that houses all your higher executive function.
舉例來說，當你的時間感減慢或加快，你的自我意識消失（這些聽起來就像是身處新紀元的感受），你過去不知道這是怎麼回事。但我們現在知道，你的大腦其實正處於一種被稱爲“瞬時腦前額葉功能低下”(transient hypofrontality)的狀態。瞬時意味着這種狀態是暫時的，低下(hypo)是超高(hyper)的反面——它意味着放慢、甚至完全停止。Frontality指你的前額葉皮層；作爲大腦的一部分，它容納了所有更高級別的執行功能。

So the old idea about optimal performance is, "Oh, we only use 5% of our brain, and flow must be all of our brain functioning at a maximal level." Turns out that's totally backwards. In flow, huge portions of your prefrontal cortex are turning off. Parts of it start to wink out so you can no longer separate past from present from future. Why does your sense of self vanish? The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex that houses your inner critic -- that voice of doubt and disparagement that's always there -- it shuts off in flow.
關於最佳表現的舊觀念是：“哦，我們只使用了大腦的5%，心流肯定是指大腦的所有功能都處在最高水平。”事實證明，這種看法完全過時了。處在心流狀態下時，前額葉皮層的相當大一部分正在關閉，開始終止運行，於是你就再也無法分清過去、現在和未來。爲什麼你的自我意識消失了？那是因爲，在心流過程中，存儲你內心的批評家（即總是在那裏的質疑聲和貶低聲）的背外側前額葉皮層關閉了。

And this concept of becoming one with everything? You hear surfers talk about, "Oh I was one with the wave," and it sounds like absolute nonsense. No, it turns out there's a part of your brain called the right parietal lobe that helps you figure out where you are in space. It helps us separate self from other. In deep flow states, energy goes elsewhere and the right parietal lobe shuts down. So, from a neurological perspective, at that point the brain actually does believe it's one with everything.
那麼，這個概念是不是指“與萬物合一”？你聽到一些衝浪者說，“哦，我與浪濤融爲一體了，”這聽起來就像是廢話。不，事實證明，你的大腦中有一個被稱爲右頂葉的部分，它正在幫助你搞清楚你處於空間的何處。它幫助我們區分自我和外在事物。在深度心流狀態下，能量流向其他地方，右頂葉關閉。所以，從神經系統的角度來看，在這一時點，大腦確實認爲自己與萬物合一了。What good is all this in the business world?
所有這一切對商業世界有什麼好處？

A study conducted by McKinsey found that the average person spends about 5% of working hours in flow. But if you could increase that to 20%, they estimate that overall workplace productivity would double. That's incredible. That's a crazy statistic.
麥肯錫公司(McKinsey)的一項研究發現，普通人在大約5%的工作時間內處於心流狀態。但如果你能夠將這個比重提高至20%，他們預測稱整個工作場所的生產力將翻一番。真是難以置信。這是一個非常瘋狂的統計數字。

There are 15 flow triggers that are covered in The Rise of Superman. For example, you want a very specific challenge-to-skills ratio. The challenge needs to be 4% greater than the skills you bring to the table. We took that number and ran with it, and tried to test it in various scenarios, and we have found it's very effective.
《超人的崛起》介紹了15種心流觸發器。比如，你想要一個非常明確的挑戰技能比。挑戰需要比你能夠拿出來的技能高出4%。我們接受這個數字，用它運行，同時嘗試着在各種情況下對它進行測試，我們發現這樣做非常有效。

A rich environment is another trigger. A rich environment is a fancy way of saying lots of novelty, lots of complexity, and lots of unpredictability. Google (GOOG) is great at this. They talk about 10x improvement and not 10% improvement. When you're asking for 10x improvement, you're throwing out all the existing assumptions, and you have to start radically new. You're massively increasing the amount of novelty, complexity, and unpredictability in your employees' work life.
豐富的環境是另一個觸發器。豐富的環境是一種別緻的說法，意指大量的新奇感，複雜性和不可預測性。谷歌公司(Google)是這方面的高手。他們往往追求績效的10倍改善，而不是提高10%。當你要求10倍的改善時，你就需要扔掉現有的所有假設，你必須得開始採用全新的方式。你需要大幅增加員工工作生活中的新奇感，複雜性和不可預測性。

Risk is also a flow trigger, which is obvious for athletes. But it's not just physical risk. What you're really trying to do is get the brain to release dopamine, which happens when we take physical risk -- as well as an emotional, social, intellectual, or creative risk. Silicon Valley has an advantage here because it gives people space to fail and take those risks.
風險也是一個心流觸發器，對於運動員來說，這一點顯而易見。但它不只是身體風險。你真正想要做的事情是，讓大腦釋放多巴胺，當我們承受身體風險，以及情緒、社交、智力或創新風險時，這一幕就會出現。硅谷在這方面有一定優勢，因爲它給予人們失敗和承受這些風險的空間。

Say I'm an executive, what's my easy answer for reaching a state of flow?
假如我是一位高管，有沒有一種簡單的方式讓我達到心流狀態？

There's no easy answer, and we always say this is not self-help. I will say that the people who are really good at this, they don't just go for flow at work, they want flow in their off-time, too. You're training the brain, and the more flow you get, the more flow you get.
沒有簡單的答案，我們一直強調這並不是自助活動。我想說的是，真正擅長此道的人不僅僅在工作中追求心流狀態，在業餘時間裏，他們也希望獲得這種狀態。大家需要訓練自己的大腦。你進入心流狀態的次數越多，你就將獲得更多的心流狀態。

So what you're saying is, I should take up surfing.
照你的意思，我也應該去衝浪。

Sure. And creative projects are great -- painting, writing, all that stuff. Creative side projects are really important because they're very common flow triggers. Playing sports helps, and not just action sports. But it's important to remember these neurochemicals are potent and addictive, and this can be dangerous stuff. It's not a quick fix. And it's not guaranteed.
當然可以啊。你還可以繪畫，寫作，任何需要創造力的活動都行。創造性的工作外活動非常重要，因爲它們是最常見的心流觸發器。從事體育運動的確有好處，並不限於極限運動。但務必要銘記，這些神經化學物質非常強大，很容易上癮，也有可能成爲危險的東西。它並不是一個快速的解決之道，不一定會產生效果。

You can build your environment around these 15 flow triggers, but flow is still a happy accident when it happens. All we can do is make you more accident-prone.
大家可以圍繞這15個心流觸發器構建你周圍的環境，但心流依然是一個幸福的意外，總是在不經意間突然來到。我們能夠做的事情就是，讓自己更容易遭遇這樣的意外。