A mind wandering expert breaks down the mental and emotional effects of daydreaming.
It happens when you're trying to solve a complex problem at work, planning your budget for the month, or watching the latest episode of Yellowstone: Your mind drifts off, and suddenly you’re daydreaming about the awkward interaction you had with a barista that morning rather than the task in front of you.
All this off-topic thinking adds up fast: Some studies suggest people spend 30 to 50 percent of their waking hours daydreaming. That stat may seem worrisome, especially if you’re set on boosting your productivity. But allowing yourself to space out from time to time may come with some advantages. Here’s what to know.
Daydreaming, Explained
Traditionally, daydreaming has been described as the periods in which you’re not paying attention to or thinking about what you’re doing. But recently, it’s also come to be seen as the times in which your mind is wandering from topic to topic, which is why many researchers in the field refer to the phenomenon as “mind wandering,” says Julia Kam, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Calgary and published researcher in the field. “It's less about whether it's related to an ongoing task or not and more so about whether your thoughts are jumping from one topic to another,” she explains.
Daydreaming can be an involuntary experience, transpiring when you become so absorbed in yourself that you don’t even realize you’re not thinking about, say, the presentation you’re supposed to be working on or the book you’re reading, says Kam. It might develop when you’re engaging in an activity so effortless — like running on a treadmill — you’re almost operating on autopilot, and your mind drifts onto other topics, she adds.
However, in some cases, you may be fully aware that you’re daydreaming. Imagine you’re watching a dull documentary that your partner excitedly chose for you to watch together. You have to sit through it, but you might choose to let your mind go elsewhere, such as your upcoming birthday plans and the brunch you had that morning, Kam adds. “Studies have found that if you are not that interested or not that motivated at what you're doing, that tends to lead to or be associated with more mind wandering,” she says.
Usually, the thoughts experienced during mind wandering fit into two buckets: yourself in the past and the future, plus how other people fit into these time spans, says Kam. For example, it’s common to think about a passive-aggressive interaction you had with your colleague or the wild night out you had with your friends. You might mull over the to-dos you need to tie up the next day while getting ready for bed or the goals you hope to accomplish this year while driving to work, she notes.
What we think about has a huge impact on our performance and well-being.
As you daydream, you’ll generally become less responsive to external stimuli and have reduced sensory processing. Meanwhile, you’ll further activate brain regions linked with internal self-reflection and planning, according to information published in the journal Psychology of Learning and Motivation.
It’s particularly difficult for participants — and, in turn, researchers — to determine the point at which mind wandering begins, says Kam. Imagine if someone were to ask you, “How many minutes ago did you start thinking about your dinner plans instead of the laundry you were folding?” There’s a good chance you wouldn’t be able to answer. That’s why experts don’t know exactly how long a spell of mind wandering can last, she explains.
Certain individuals may be more likely to experience mind wandering than others. People with ADHD, for example, are more likely to report higher levels of mind wandering, in the sense of having thoughts that aren’t focused on the task at hand, says Kam. Folks who have depression may have trouble paying attention to what they're doing, too, she notes.
The Art of Studying Daydreaming
Trust is an important component of studying daydreaming, says Kam. The only way for researchers like Kam to know what people are thinking about while experiencing mind wandering is for the study participants to tell them, which comes with the risk of bias. But, on the whole, people are reliable when telling experts the thoughts going through their minds in research settings, says Kam. The accuracy and soundness of study participants' responses is also best when researchers ask questions like, “What are you thinking about right now?” rather than, “What were you thinking about three weeks ago?” she explains.
While participants are daydreaming, researchers may use an EEG (aka electroencephalogram) to measure electrical activity in the brain and find patterns correlated with certain types of thoughts, says Kam. “Correlated” is the key word here: “We don't know for sure that this brain activity is the source or the cause of the thoughts,” says Kam. “We're not really able to establish that causality. But what we do know is, ‘When these thoughts occur, this pattern tends to occur as well.’” The findings across studies can be used to help explain how the brain supports the phenomenon of mind wandering and potentially predict its occurrence, according to a review published in NeuroImage.
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The Good and Bad of Daydreaming
Allowing your mind to wander — whether you’re supposed to be studying or working on an important project — may have some drawbacks. Mind wandering has been linked with declines in task performance when motivation is low. For example, you may make more typos in the report you’re writing while your mind is completely off-topic, says Kam.
What’s more, it may spoil your mood, depending on what you’re thinking about, says Kam. A 2010 study suggests that people report greater negative affect when mind wandering. But more recent research found the phenomenon predicts negative mood only when participants described their daydreams as “sad” or “anxious” — not “happy” or “calm.” Further, future- and self-oriented daydreams have been associated with positive mood, while past- and other-focused daydreams have been linked with negative mood.
Despite its bad rap, mind wandering may offer some benefits, namely its positive influence on problem-solving, says Kam. When you allow your mind to shift away from the issue you’ve relentlessly been trying to crack, you might experience a “light-bulb moment” and come up with an innovative solution, she adds.
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Daydreaming can also foster creativity, research suggests. Positive constructive daydreaming — characterized by planning, pleasant thoughts, curiosity, and vivid, wishful imagery — was positively linked with creativity in a 2022 study. And participants in a 2020 study who engaged in personally meaningful daydreaming reported greater levels of daily inspiration throughout the sampling period, while engaging in fantastical daydreaming was predictive of higher-quality creative writing in the lab setting.
Given those potential benefits, Kam supports treating your brain much like a muscle that requires R&R. Just like your hamstrings or biceps, your brain can’t function at its prime for 18-plus hours a day without giving it a break every so often, she says. So consider relaxing with a bit of mind wandering if you’re focused on a task for hours on end, she suggests. Just make sure to be mindful of what you’re thinking of during these mental breaks, says Kam. “What we think about has a huge impact on our performance and well-being.”
Ready to take your daydreaming to the next level? Make the most of your mind wandering with this Cultivate Your Creativity sound meditation.