Oh.
Sorry.
I’m back now. I drifted off there for a minute.
You see, I just read an article that said this: On average, the human mind wanders about 30% of the time.
As I did some further poking around, the average of these “studies” falls in the range of 30% to 50% of the time. This means that for a significant portion of the day, individuals may find their thoughts drifting away from the task at hand and into unrelated or daydreaming states.
Call it daydreaming, call it absent-mindedness, call it what you will. We drift.
But, supposedly, mind-wandering is not such a bad thing. It is simply our brain keeping itself occupied when it’s under the impression that not much else is going on.
There are many factors that can influence the frequency of mind-wandering.
For instance. Mind-wandering tends to occur more often during tasks that are monotonous, repetitive, or not mentally stimulating. Bored out of our gourds. And away the mind drifts.
Or there could be some sort of external distractions that make us go bye-bye. Noises. Interruptions. Stress and fatigue can also make us drift.
There are other causes, too. Like us. You vs. Me. Individual differences. Some of us may have a more wandering or daydream-prone mind by nature. Other individuals may be more focused and present in the moment. It might be genetic. Or it could be from our upbringing.
The other thing is the context of the situation. We might be more likely to have wandering thoughts when we have idle time. Like during commuting. Or when we take a shower or lie in bed before sleep.
But as the study shows, mind-wandering is common.
It can serve various functions, such as creative thinking, problem-solving, planning, and especially introspection, I think.
Truly. I wish there were a way to measure my own mind-wandering. It goes. I know it goes. But I’m not sure how often.
But mostly, what continues to resonate with this or other things, is how incredibly complex our human brains are. They seem both odd and absolutely wonderful at the same time.
At least, I think.
P.S. I think my mind was wandering when I wrote this.
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“The mind is everything. What you think you become.” – Buddha
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“The mind is like an iceberg, it floats with one-seventh of its bulk above water.” – Sigmund Freud
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“The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
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I wander. I wonder why I wander.
