I would say the number one activity that I lose myself in is reading. I can just start looking or flipping through pages; before I know it, at least an hour ( usually more) has gone by.
By this same token, I would say research. ( I know, nerd alert) I was a history major for a reason. I love doing research. Do you ever get taken by a question or detail, go to look that thing up, and forty minutes later, you have gone down a long Wikipedia or encyclopedia trail? When I was in grad I had to discipline myself to stay on topic when doing research for a paper or project because I would constantly start researching one thing and get distracted by some other fact or detail that I found interesting. Even today, the favorite parts of my job are researching for an exhibit and looking at old newspaper articles or the origin of a particular object.
A creative pastime that I used to love to lose myself in was drawing. While I am extremely out of practice, I used to love drawing for my high school art class. We usually had a sort of themed sketch or drawing assigned for every class. I remember how I used to love to just put on a CD or the radio, and I could just spend hours working on an assignment. To me, it only ever seemed like I was working maybe a half hour at most, and I would always be surprised when my mom would call me to dinner or I would have to leave for sports or play practice.
Lastly, I can usually find my flow amid a workout. While this is not always the case ( like at the moment my mind always feels a bit squirrely with all the work stuff I have going on), I find that I can usually lose myself to the rhythm of a run or a dance class, and if I need help redirecting my focus, I can always put on a yoga video.
Let me know what your favorite activities are in the comments below and if you have any tips on the ones listed above.
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