* In this way, hyperfocus is the state that precedes what Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls a “flow” state—the state where we’re entirely absorbed in what we’re doing and time passes at a much faster speed. As Csikszentmihalyi explains in Flow, when we’re immersed in this state, “nothing else seems to matter.” This is yet another reason why focusing on only one thing is essential: our odds of experiencing flow rise exponentially when several things aren’t competing for our limited attention. Hyperfocus is the process that leads us to flow.