Have you ever been so utterly engrossed and absolutely engaged in a task that you’ve failed, in any sense, to mark the passage of time? This is one of those experiences where you emerge from the nether-regions of your own subconscious and blearily look around wondering why you’ve missed a couple of meals. And driving doesn’t count here; that’s just called highway hypnosis.

You’ve experienced something called a state of flow. The term was first coined by Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (I know it’s a mouthful, but he is a brilliant scientist). He noted that people seem happiest when they are proverbially ‘in the zone’. In computer parlance, you’re ‘wired in’. You’re ‘in the groove’. There are many different expressions for the same phenomenon. But what’s interesting is that there’s no one path of engagement.

Think about the kid who is first learning to play scales on a piano and faces the agonizing and repetitive drill regimen. That experience can often produce clock watching, with the second hand seemingly moving at the same pace as the hour hand. However, a curious thing happens once the musician passes a point where the drill becomes less repetitive and the music more meaningful. Hour-long sessions at the keyboard seem to skitter by in scant minutes as time gets suspended.

Writers who aren’t encumbered by a blockage experience it. Stitchers and quilters do too even when they’re together as a social group. Musicians, artists, video gamers, and readers can all find that same deeply immersive experience.

It’s especially welcomed by gardeners this time of year. After the scheming, plotting, and purchasing are all done, we welcome that familiar smell of the earth and the murky feel of the soil under the fingernails. That zen trance overcomes us. Weeds succumb row by row, and bedding plants are tucked into various arrangements until the bright sun has shifted to the low west. When we finally emerge, there’s a sense of contentment, even accomplishment, that warms us like no sunshine can.

We’re also likely to feel really hungry when we realize we haven’t stopped to eat anything for hours. But it’s far from an empty feeling.

Whatever it is that absorbs you and suspends your senses in such a mystical way, here’s hoping you find plenty of time to feel that flow this spring.