Finding Your Flow
Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “flow” as “a smooth uninterrupted movement or progress.”
When you’re preparing for the bar exam—especially during these final two months—you want that “flow.” You also want to be in the “zone”—that state of heightened concentration that enables peak performance.
Yale psychologists recently developed a mathematical theory of flow that can improve engagement in everything you do.
The formula underlying the Yale psychologists’ theory of flow examines the mutual information between desired ends and the means of attaining them. Their theory is quantified as I(M;E).
The three variables in the formula are:
M (which is the means, or the successful action one must achieve in the hopes of reaching a goal);
E (which is the ends, or the outcome of pursuing the goal); and
I (which is the mutual information, or the degree to which using the means reduces the uncertainty of the ends).
The Yale researchers argue that our flow increases when the mutual information (I) we have about how the means (M) will affect the ends (E) is at its highest. In other words, when we better understand how our actions will impact our goals, we are more likely to be engaged so that we can reach our goals.
The Yale researchers gave the following example:
When people exercise, they have a desired end state, say, losing five pounds. People also have a means of attaining their end state, perhaps jogging. Whether they jog and how often and far is the means and is informative of whether they will achieve their end state.
The more information you have about how the means will affect the ends, the more likely you will be fully engaged in what you’re doing. Using the jogging example from above, if you know how much jogging will shed how much weight, you’ll more likely to be in the flow.
The more information you have about how the means will affect the ends, the more likely you will be fully engaged in what you’re doing.
Take preparing for the bar exam, as another example.
Imagine needing to score at least a total of 270 scaled points (the means) to pass the bar exam (the ends). When the mutual information is highest (understanding what leads to higher passage rates, like active completion of your bar review course's study plan, consistent completion of essays and MPTs, regular engagement with your law school's bar prep program, and thorough reviews of all the explanatory answers, just to name a few), you're more likely to be in the zone and put in the needed hours to pass the exam.
But when the mutual information is lower—for example, when you don’t see the value or effectiveness of the bar review course or the assignments you’re completing—then you’re less likely to find that flow. Without that flow when preparing for the bar exam, you’re more likely to slog through studying and find retention of information difficult at best.
The researchers gave another example based on something to which I can relate: the Peloton exercise bike. Peloton—which also sports a treadmill, rowing machine, and strength device—bombards you with all sorts of data about means and ends. You get detailed statistics like output, calories, resistance, cadence, speed, distance, as well as information as to how you rank against everyone online at the same time and also against everyone who has ever taken that same class.
According to one of the researchers:
“There are thousands of positions on the leader board where a rider could finish—thousands of possible end states—and the rider's performance reveals which of these end states will occur … That is a lot of information, far more than you'd normally get from a workout. When is the last time exercising allowed you to rule out literally thousands of possible end states?”
This is all to say that using a data-driven or data-influenced approach—where you increase your mutual information—is an important component of improving the effectiveness of your effective bar preparation.
