You've got to let it Flow.

This weeks lecture was all about the concept of flow and the relationshop between boredom and stress. Flow has been the focus of Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi , a researcher in the fields of happiness and creativity. And he says, "People are most happy when they are in a state of flow–a state of concentration or complete absorption with the activity at hand and the situation. It is a state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter."
In particular this week it was important for us to see how we could improve flow within Education. For me education and my school life always seemed to be one or the other, I was either really bored or really stressed. So how is it possible to have a state a flow, where boredom and stress is in a state of balance.
I think it is extremley important to get the balance right, and this i think can be assumed when "your challenges meet your skills." http://www.pbs.org/thisemotionallife/blogs/flow For me this website was very helpful in explaining what you might need to do in order to meet this state of flow, something which after learning about I clearly found quite difficult.
As I mentioned earlier your school life is a good example of a point where you are either bored or stressed. For example, I took English literature as A level and it felt like we were reading books, learning quotes, and causually discussing themes and motives forever. Then suddenly your coursework is due in two weeks time, with an exam a week later. It all comes at once and soon your thrown from that relaxed boredom into a crazy state of stress. We were specifically told in our workshops this week to think about a lack of flow in education, is there a lack of it? I think quite clearly there is a lack of flow and it is difficult to help people meet that point between boredom and stress. Therefore after looking into this state of 'Flow' and in particular when thinking about it in terms of education, I think it is imperative that changes be made. Mix up how the cirricullum is taught, dont let the students relax for 7 months, learning bits here and there and then throwing them into revsion and exams right at the end. Encourage a mixture of both throughout the year, this should help increase challenges making a state of flow easier to achieve.
So just remember, when your at school or sitting behind your desk with nothing to do feeling extremley bored that you'll never be able to meet your full potential...increase those challenges and let it flow!