The science of a wandering mind
Just think: The challenges of the disengaged mind | Science
science.org
Task-negative mode is more colloquially known as daydreaming, and, as Daniel J. Levitin of McGill University has written, it “is responsible for our moments of greatest creativity and insight, when we’re able to solve problems that previously seemed unsolvable.”
David Leonhardt • Opinion | You’re Too Busy. You Need a ‘Shultz Hour.’ (Published 2017)
In situations of low stress and safety, mind-wandering will be a gift, a pleasure, a creative force. In situations of high stress or danger, mind-wandering will be a torment.
Johann Hari • Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention--and How to Think Deeply Again
our minds are wired to wander. Wandering is their default. Whenever our thoughts are suspended between specific, discrete, goal-directed activities, the brain reverts to a so-called baseline, “resting” state—but don’t let the word fool you, because the brain isn’t at rest at all. Instead, it experiences tonic activity in what’s now known as the DMN
... See moreMaria Konnikova • Mastermind
But as two prominent psychologists recently noted, “Not all minds who wander are lost”—in fact, the mind’s wandering is vital to imagination and creative thought.
Scott Barry Kaufman • Wired to Create: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind
While mind wandering may hurt our immediate focus on some task at hand, some portion of the time it operates in the service of solving problems that matter for our lives.