Why daydreaming

Not that huge semi-truck that you really shouldn't be following so closely. I'm talking about the future, as in the limitless possibilities it holds and how we are absolutely addicted to daydreaming about what the next hour, day or decade may bring. Heck, the same even applies to obsessing over the next notification to arrive on your screen. This frees energy to allow the brain to do its favorite thing: imagining future scenarios," explains author and biologist Bill Sullivan in Psychology Today.

This makes sense from an evolutionary perspective. At earlier stages in our development as a species, focusing on "mindfulness" and " being present " would have been a good way to get killed. Instead of living in the now back then, we always had to worry about what or who might attack us next and where our next meal was going to come from. But if you're reading this, you're probably among the fortunate 54 percent or so of the world's population that doesn't have to struggle to meet your basic needs.

Ode to positive constructive daydreaming. Mental representation and mental practice: experimental investigation on the functional links between motor memory and motor imagery.

Urgesi C, ed. Inspired by distraction: mind wandering facilitates creative incubation. Psychol Sci. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for VerywellMind. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page.

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Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Related Articles. How to Do Meditation.

Learn How to Meditate at Home. Hearing vs. Listening: What's the Difference? Types of Memory and their Functions. One of the best reasons to daydream is that this is truly a pleasurable activity. In the midst of our hectic, maximum lives, daydreaming provides us a soft refuge to indulge in our most cherished thoughts.

And, as all of us know, most pleasurable activities lift our mood, and help us perform our tasks with renewed energy. Like a coffee break, a daydreaming break provides us a unique sense of happiness, whether we are peering at laptop computers in our home office, or gazing out at the clean sands and blue waters on a beach. It helps us pause the world, bring up our finest memories, reflect on our lives, imagine new things, all without any immediate pressure to perform.

The best part is that each of us can daydream by ourselves, without any dependence on anyone else. Therefore, even the pandemic has not affected our ability to daydream every day, wherever we are. And we can then come back to our real lives feeling totally refreshed. Harish Bhat works with the Tata group. Daydreaming while walking alone or idly looking out of the window, has helped him come up with many new ideas for marketing campaigns, books and articles.

Also read: How Titan built a community of fine watchmakers in a village. Big Story Opinion Talking Point. Cook Drink Discover. Trends Shop Beauty. But the next time you catch yourself daydreaming, go with the flow. You might be surprised by the results. Rewards Free Stuff Promos.

Daydreaming can strengthen your relationships. Daydreaming can make you more productive. Daydreaming can help you achieve your goals. Topics mental health stress sleep wellness.