Go with the flow – Is zoning out a good thing?

One day I sat down to write a computer program. The program was going to be used to keep track of my music collection. I was going to be able to see what albums, artists and music files that I owned in one place. I remember that it was the middle of the day when I started. My daughter who was seven at the time was in the room with me playing by herself. At one point she asked me what we were going to eat and I responded that we would get something in a minute. As I continued to write the program I was happy with the parts of it I completed and the next parts of what needed to be done. The next thing I knew my daughter was telling me she was hungry and looked up at the clock. What had felt like a half hour had passed had turned into 3 hours and it was dark outside. I had completely lost track of time. At the point I took her to get something to eat but I did feel bad about having her wait that long. There are a few things in life that put me in that place. Some of them are computer related, others are people related like spending time with my family and friends. Sometimes this is referred to as being in a zone. When you get so involved in something and enjoy it so much that you lose track of time and everything else that is going on around you. This is indeed a happy place. What puts you in your zone? What activities cause you to lose track of time and space? For some people its gardening or baking.. My son once spent days trying to learn how to walk on his hands while in a handstand.