Map of Monotropic Experiences

Attention Tunnels

Flow

Arch, path — drawn with shapes from the map builder, which you can use to draw your own.

In plain words

Your attention goes deep into one thing. The rest of the world fades out. Sometimes that feels good and helps you think. Sometimes it takes you somewhere you did not want to go. Coming back out again is hard.

Entering flow states — or attention tunnels — is a necessary coping strategy for many of us. Flow states are the pinnacle of intrinsic motivation.

Fergus Murray — in their own words

What changes this

Time that is not interrupted, and a warning before it ends. A tunnel is easy to settle into and hard to get back into once you have been pulled out of it, so the thing an environment can give is a long uninterrupted stretch and notice before the end of it.

Where it is on the map

Area 1 of twenty, printed on the map as Attention Tunnels. It borders:

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