Additionally, psychology writer Kendra Cherry has mentioned three other components that Csíkszentmihályi lists as being a part of the flow experience: Those aspects can appear independently of each other, but only in combination do they constitute a so-called flow experience. Experience of the activity as intrinsically rewarding, also referred to as autotelic experience.A distortion of temporal experience, as one's subjective experience of time is altered.A sense of personal control or agency over the situation or activity.A loss of reflective self-consciousness.Intense and focused concentration on the present moment.

Jeanne Nakamura and Csíkszentmihályi identify the following six factors as encompassing an experience of flow: Hyperfocus is often mentioned 'in the context of autism, schizophrenia, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder- conditions that have consequences on attentional abilities.' In some cases, hyperfocus can 'capture' a person, perhaps causing them to appear unfocused or to start several projects, but complete few. Some examples include spending 'too much' time playing video games or becoming pleasurably absorbed by one aspect of an assignment or task to the detriment of the overall assignment. However, hyperfocus is not always described in a positive light. The flow state shares many characteristics with hyperfocus. Named by the psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi in 1975, the concept has been widely referred to across a variety of fields (and is particularly well recognized in occupational therapy), though the concept has been claimed to have existed for thousands of years under other names.

In essence, flow is characterized by the complete absorption in what one does, and a resulting transformation in one's sense of time. In positive psychology, a flow state, also known colloquially as being in the zone, is the mental state in which a person performing some activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity.

Psychology of flow