clevermanka | Chop wood, carry water

mckitterick sent me a link for an article on aging research, and after reading it, I noticed a link to another article that mentioned something about wandering minds, something I've had problems with lately--an oddity for me since I'm usually a be-here-now sort of girl.

People spend 46.9 percent of their waking hours thinking about something other than what they’re doing, and this mind-wandering typically makes them unhappy. So says a study that used an iPhone Web app to gather 250,000 data points on subjects’ thoughts, feelings, and actions as they went about their lives.

The research, by psychologists Matthew A. Killingsworth and Daniel T. Gilbert of Harvard University, is described this week in the journal Science.

“A human mind is a wandering mind, and a wandering mind is an unhappy mind,” Killingsworth and Gilbert write.

I would rather phrase that in a positive manner by saying a focused mind is a happy mind.

Time to regain some mental organization and structure in my mental and physical life. Restarting an exercise program will help. So will being a diligent about my eating habits. Specifically, paying attention to if I'm really hungry, and then paying attention to what I'm eating. I need to stop grabbing a handful of almonds on the way out the door because I might get hungry while I'm out running errands. I mean, really. I'm going to starve if I miss a meal? Hardly.

Focus focus focus.

And there I have an excellent topic for a visual journey entry. Putting in a couple hours of meditation and working-while-thinking on this topic will help significantly in putting the concept back into practice.

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This is SO interesting! I believe it, but also I think I believe it because I'm an exception that proves the rule. I have always loved my daydreaming, my wandering mind. One of my favorite things to do is to sit some place beautiful and let my mind wander. I find it relaxing, rejuvenating, and it's where ALL my creativity comes from!

Maybe it's because when I let my mind wander, that IS what I'm doing? That's the difference - it isn't that I'm distracted, or unfocused... it's that I allow my mind to go off on it's own, because it brings back gold.

Perhaps if our minds didn't wander, we would not have art.

THOUGH, my favorite thing about yoga with Gopi was how it quieted my mind. It can get loud and busy in here. So that was really nice exercise. *miss Gopi*

I don't think your version of daydreaming is what the study authors are talking about. Because look at any artist (of whatever medium)--while they're working, they are focused. Even if it's that staring-off-into-space thing, that's its own sort of focus.

As I read it, the mind-wandering they're talking about is that distracted spiral where there is no focus. Random web surfing, for example. Or playing the if-I-won-the-lottery game while you're driving to the grocery store. Itemizing all the things that must be done at home while one is at the office. That sort of fruitless, goal-less wandering of the mind.

I miss Gopi, too. I'll start going again once I don't have to worry about scary winter roads in the dark.

I can see that point when it comes to working, but I still know that I love not having anything I have to think about. Playing the if-I-won-the-lottery game is relaxing, for example, and I don't know what else I'd think about while I drove to the grocery store. I have to think about something - but I'm not going to go over my list again and again, or think to myself "turn on turn signal. Slow for break lights."

I get a lot of my best ideas when I just let go and unfocus. In the shower. In the car. Walking the dog. When I don't *have* to think about anything, or do anything but move my feet or scrub my hair. The unfocused, wandering mind is my friend.

Perhaps the study participants were unhappy about using an iPhone app to track themselves or people who participate in a study to "track their happiness" are by default not the happiest of people?

Seriously though, it's a good jumping-off point for deciding where we choose to spend our thoughts.

My shower time gives me the greatest writing fodder, but without a way to record it immediately, it gets lost.

deciding where we choose to spend our thoughts

Exactly! If nothing else, to avoid getting caught on the coulda-shoulda-woulda loop.

I've been trying to catch myself in the negative talk-thought loop and replace it with gratitude or positive spin, especially if it's a critical thought pattern with say, my relationships.

Some thoughts are easier than others.

Great post! I totally agree. I think we could all benefit from being "present" more often. It is easy to let the mind wander while driving, but also dangerous! I try to urge cyclists not to listen to headphones while riding. You really need to be completely aware of your surroundings for your own safety.

In the classroom I am often thinking one step ahead. While it isn't necessarily always a bad thing, I think I may miss cues as to how the students are performing the current task.

It is easy to let the mind wander while driving, but also dangerous...You really need to be completely aware of your surroundings for your own safety.

There are good times to daydream and bad times to daydream. Daydreaming while driving is, IMO, a bad thing.

I wonder if they didn't experiment on creative types, who universally enjoy the process of thinking about things that aren't and whose livings are often based on focused daydreaming.

If "the mind-wandering they're talking about is that distracted spiral where there is no focus," I can understand it could lead to unhappiness, but then they should be clear! Such distractedness can lead to obsessive or cyclical thoughts in people with OCD or PTSD.

Tess, I suspect your "unfocused" thoughts are more focused than you think, because your subconscious is probably working on something....

Chop wood, carry water

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