I think I share your point of view about being "in the zone". To be honest, Being in the zone as a developer doesn't look all that attractive. I always thought as "the zone" as a state of mind where you are performing at your highest level, doing things you already know.
As a developer, you might want to always reach outside your comfort zone. Not always, but a reasonable portion of your time should probably be spent stretching your comfort zone, feeling uncomfortable.
I think I share your point of view about being "in the zone". To be honest, Being in the zone as a developer doesn't look all that attractive. I always thought as "the zone" as a state of mind where you are performing at your highest level, doing things you already know.
As a developer, you might want to always reach outside your comfort zone. Not always, but a reasonable portion of your time should probably be spent stretching your comfort zone, feeling uncomfortable.
Thanks. You are right but I believe we all, devs or not, should aim to keep on stretching the comfort zone as it seems to be the best way to grow. :)
"Flow" is not doing things you just already know. It's when your skill in an area is high and when the challenge is high as well.
This graph, from the wikipedia article on Flow sums it up succinctly: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Challen...
What you're describing is more in the "Relaxation" section