It will come as no surprise that the same type of approach is needed for solving the problem of stress at work, since stress is detrimental to achieving flow. In common usage, the word "stress" applies both to the tension we feel, and to its external causes. This ambiguity leads to the erroneous assumption that external stress must inevitably result in psychic discomfort. But here again, there is no one-to-one relation between the objective and the subjective; external stress (which to avoid confusion we might call "strain") need not lead to negative experiences. It is true that people feel anxious when they perceive the challenges in a situation as far exceeding their skills, and that they want to avoid anxiety at all cost. But the perception of challenges and skills rests on a subjective evaluation that is amenable to change.
At work, there are as many sources of strain as there are in life itself: unexpected crises, high expectations, insoluble problems of all sorts. How does one keep them from becoming stressful? A first step consists in establishing priorities among the demands that crowd into consciousness. The more responsibilities one has, the more essential it becomes to know what is truly important and what is not. Successful people often make lists, or flowcharts of all the things they have to do, and quickly decide which tasks they can delegate, or forget about, and which ones they have to tackle personally, and in what order. Sometimes this activity takes the form of a ritual, which like all rituals serves in part as a reassurance that things are under control. John Reed, CEO of Citicorp, spends time each morning setting his priorities. "I am a great lister," he says, "I have twenty lists of things to do all the time. If I ever have five free minutes I sit and make lists of things that I should be worrying about. . . ." But it is not necessary to be so systematic; some people trust their memory and experience, and make their choices more intu itively. The important thing is to develop a personal strategy to produce some kind of order. After priorities are set, some people will confront first the easiest tasks on the list and clear the desk for the more difficult ones; others proceed in reverse order because they feel that after dealing with the tough items the easier ones will take care of themselves. Both strategies work, but for different people; what's important is for each person to find out which one fits best.
Being able to create order among the various demands that crowd upon consciousness will go a long way toward preventing stress. The next step is to match one's skills with whatever challenges have been identified. There will be tasks we feel incompetent to deal with-can they be delegated to someone else? Can you learn the skills required in time? Can you get help? Can the task be transformed, or broken up into simpler parts? Usually the answer to one of these questions will provide a solution that transforms a potentially stressful situation into a flow experience. None of this will happen, however, if one responds to the strain passively, like a rabbit frozen by the headlights of an oncoming car. One must invest attention into the ordering of tasks, into the analysis of what is required to complete them, into the strategies of solution. Only by exercising control can stress be avoided. And while everyone has the psychic energy needed to cope with strain, few learn to use it effectively.
The careers of creative individuals give some of the best examples of how one can shape work to one's own requirements. Most creative persons don't follow a career laid out for them, but invent their job as they go along. Artists invent their own style of painting, composers their own musical styles. Creative scientists develop new fields of science, and make it possible for their successors to have careers in them. There were no radiologists before Roentgen, and there was no nuclear medicine before Yalow and her colleagues pioneered that field. There were no auto workers before entrepreneurs like Henry Ford built up the first production lines. Obviously very few people can start entirely new lines of work; most of us will follow the job description of conventional careers. But even the most routine job can benefit from the kind of transforming energy that creative individuals bring to what they do.
In the first case, working on the plane is likely to be stressful rather than flow-producing. If it is something one feels one has to do, it would perhaps be better to look at the clouds below, read a magazine, or chat with a fellow passenger instead.
