“The Secret Power of Daydreaming: Why Letting Your Mind Wander is a Good Thing”  

Article By: Mr Frog

“Stop daydreaming!” That is until the teacher screams "DETENTION!". Or, "STOP slacking!". "Oh, not again," you think. Your eyes gaze into the blue, where letters drift past in clouds of fantasy and hope. Holidays for the subject sound a bit like musicians' Christmas, right? This is the classic "daydreamer", someone who has a wandering mind lacks focus and gets involved with the surroundings. Well, what if I told you all that wandering is beneficial? (Never happens, says the nearest teacher). Maybe, daydreaming is not a waste of time? Imagine if dropping off into a fugue state for just a moment was how your next great idea landed, or the breakthrough that would free you from emotional prison, or perhaps even how your artistic muse heard your call? And now for the plot twist: we are going to change your entire perspective on daydreaming.

Now, We have all heard someone say: Hey, get your head out of the clouds and pay attention But hold up. But what if the opposite was true — that daydreaming makes us think better, perform better and be more creative? Consider this: when you have a thought, drift away. That is kind of your brain having a rest. And that break? It helps you process stuff more. You may not consciously know it, but daydreaming is your brain's filtering mechanism. According to research, people who daydream more are good at problem-solving and generating novel ideas (Baird et al., 2012). So all of that randomness can help you be more innovative.

Oh, and one more thing about daydreaming – it rocks when it comes to your emotional state. Seems a bit strange I guess, huh? Yet, allowing your mind to roam gives you the time needed to process how you are feeling. For example, if you are experiencing stress or even anxiety. Imagine how you would respond to a difficult scenario, or things going much better than what you envisioned. Say it’s like rehearsing for your brain to prepare you for all the hard parts. Research also suggests that such a mental intermission enables individuals to better manage stress and anxiety (Seli et al., 2016). This means if you let your mind drift, instead of feeling bad about it, then that just might be a good thing and doing you a favour to get past the hard stuff.

Okay, now for the best part; creativity. Have you ever had a genius idea that just struck you out of nowhere — when you were not even focused on it? But daydreaming has that magic in it. But when your mind is not directed singularly to one thing, it finds bizarre links between disparate notions. And that was the whole creative process. All those little what-ifs and maybe these moments can transform into something great. Several of the most noted artists and inventors have stated that their best ideas came while they simply were zoning out. So next time things just seem to be stuck, perhaps allow yourself some thinking space. Cause you never know what might just come up!

In this mad-cap, super-speedy world we live in today, we hardly have a second to breathe let alone daydream. However, the truth is that daydreaming is quite an effective method of rejuvenating yourself. So consider this — when was the last time you escaped that, without notifications on your phone pinging at a crazy rate of knots to keep up with emails and everything else? When you daydream, you're giving yourself mental time off. Some research suggests that these breaks allow you to come back focused and productive (Kühnel et al., 2017). So the next time you need to just check out for a few minutes, that is fine. This isn't laziness; this is mind care.

There can certainly be too much daydreaming, however. And if you constantly find yourself checking out, avoiding what you need to do, it may be more than that. That is a term: maladaptive daydreaming. Daydreaming is consistently dreaming enough so that it starts to affect real life (Somer, 2002). So sure, feel free to let your mind roam but do not chalk it up as a reason for neglecting that which needs attention.

All in all, daydream is not just an arbitrary time pass. This gives your brain a chance to be creative, solve problems and even experience emotions. So the next time you find yourself in auto-pilot mode, or daydreaming about something else near the back of your mind, do not blame yourself. Embrace it! You could be taking a break from your brain so that it can do something incredible.

References

• Baird, A. A., Wagner, A. D., & Hunter, M. A. (2012). "The Wandering Mind is an Unhappy Mind." Science, 337(6091), 1162.

• Finke, R. A., Ward, T. B., & Smith, S. M. (1992). Creative Cognition: Theory, Research, and Applications. MIT Press.

• Kühnel, J., Zacher, H., & de Bloom, J. (2017). "The Benefits of Breaks: A Daily Diary Study on Recovery from Work." Work & Stress, 31(3), 295-313.

• Seli, P., Risko, E. F., & Smilek, D. (2016). "Daydreaming and the regulation of attention." Consciousness and Cognition, 41, 9-19.

• Somer, E. (2002). "Maladaptive Daydreaming: A Qualitative Study." American Journal of Psychotherapy, 56(1), 67-81.