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[INTJ] When do INTJs experience the mental state of flow?

fragrance

New member
Joined
May 25, 2010
Messages
106
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
8
So when do you INTJs experience it? Here's a description (from Wikipedia):

Flow is the mental state of operation in which a person in an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity.

Ten factors accompanying an experience of flow:

1. Clear goals (expectations and rules are discernible and goals are attainable and align appropriately with one's skill set and abilities). Moreover, the challenge level and skill level should both be high.
2. Concentrating, a high degree of concentration on a limited field of attention (a person engaged in the activity will have the opportunity to focus and to delve deeply into it).
3. A loss of the feeling of self-consciousness, the merging of action and awareness.
4. Distorted sense of time, one's subjective experience of time is altered.
5. Direct and immediate feedback (successes and failures in the course of the activity are apparent, so that behavior can be adjusted as needed).
6. Balance between ability level and challenge (the activity is neither too easy nor too difficult).
7. A sense of personal control over the situation or activity.
8. The activity is intrinsically rewarding, so there is an effortlessness of action.
9. A lack of awareness of bodily needs (to the extent that one can reach a point of great hunger or fatigue without realizing it)
10. Absorption into the activity, narrowing of the focus of awareness down to the activity itself, action awareness merging.

Not all are needed for flow to be experienced.
 

rav3n

.
Joined
Aug 6, 2010
Messages
11,655
When do INTJs experience the mental state of flow?

I'm guessing about once a month. It's best if you run away from them when this happens.

E - That's a truly unfortunate term.
 

Thisica

New member
Joined
Feb 19, 2011
Messages
383
MBTI Type
NiTe
Enneagram
5w4
When do INTJs experience the mental state of flow?

I'm guessing about once a month. It's best if you run away from them when this happens.

And what will happen if you don't?
 

Avik

New member
Joined
Jul 25, 2012
Messages
48
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
LII
Instinctual Variant
sp/so
I get into the "state of flow" everyday. I agree with andante, you ought to give an INTJ his or her privacy when they're 'in the zone'. I tend to send people into fits of depression, sometimes even anger, when my "state of flow" is interrupted.
 

Within

Permabanned
Joined
Jan 22, 2010
Messages
1,369
Usually when I'm painting to music. More unusual, but sometimes when I'm playing a game of some kind.
 
W

WhoCares

Guest
I can categorically attest that I have never experienced this state of flow. My mind does not work in that way. I am a multitasker by nature therefore I am never completely immersed in any one activity. My focus and conceentration are always outside of the activity as if I were viewing a video of me doing something rather than actually doing something. In this way I can maintain awareness of several different activities at once and switch between tasks in the right moment in order to work the machine which is me.

I struggled with the concept of flow for many years. Cursing myself for being unable to focus on just one thing at a time. I assumed that I had some mental deficiency which prevented me from getting into this mysterious and oft-lauded mental state. I assumed that while I was ever unable to achieve flow I would be unable to realise my potential as a human being. By focusing too much on this concept which does not apply to me I completely missed the fact I was an excellent multi-tasker. My best asset and ability by far.

Once again adhering to societal ideas of genius and effectiveness which fit the majority but not me, I set myself up for failure in realising my own potential. Now that I have allowed myself to be effective in ways other than this I am realising my true abiilities.
 

Bnova

New member
Joined
Feb 8, 2015
Messages
65
MBTI Type
IXTX
Enneagram
4
Instinctual Variant
sp
After repititive focused energy spikes until the energy sync into a flow 1min
Then you get lost and you find your hand and eyes move on its own completely in sync with your mind and it feels like you're in a dream
 

Wistful Muffin

New member
Joined
Feb 23, 2015
Messages
17
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
5w6
Instinctual Variant
sp/so
This happens to me a few times a week, mostly when I'm researching a field that I am interested in. I become extremely efficient and focused.
I become completely disinterested in everything else, it's like my own world outside of bodily needs or wants.
I've gotten very hungry and tired before when I was "in the zone" so it's not fun when I lose my flow and I realise how wrecked I am. :doh:
 

Bknight

Lost in the Multiverse
Joined
Oct 26, 2014
Messages
201
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
5w6
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
I experience it fairly often, generally when gaming or doing homework. I know a few other INTx's, especially INTPs, experience it fairly often as well.
 

Coriolis

Si vis pacem, para bellum
Staff member
Joined
Apr 18, 2010
Messages
27,230
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
5w6
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
Often when I am able to devote my complete attention to something without possibility of distraction or time limit. Common activities are when I am working in the lab, coding webpages or doing calculations, playing music, trying to arrange music, reading, or sewing.
 

BadOctopus

Suave y Fuerte
Joined
Oct 9, 2014
Messages
3,232
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
5w4
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
When I'm drawing or writing, or researching an interesting subject, I will often forget to eat, sleep, or even go to the bathroom.

I also have an appalling habit of sitting on my feet for hours on end, oblivious to the fact that they've lost all feeling, and then when I stand up, I immediately fall down.
 

JjJot

New member
Joined
Mar 17, 2015
Messages
19
MBTI Type
INTJ
Common activities are when I am working in the lab, coding webpages or doing calculations, playing music, trying to arrange music, reading, or sewing.

I notice the mental state of flow in many things, but this one is by far the worst for me.
 
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