What is mind up to when we are not focused on the task at hand? Research suggests that we are highly prone to mind wandering. Given the long list of benefits from mindfulness, or being present, lack of focus or wandering must be an undesirable state we need to avoid. But like most things in life, the answer is far from black or white. A deeper dive into the research reveals the subtlety of this question.
Research by Matt Killingsworth reveals mind wandering is a common occurrence. Up to 47% of the time, we are lost in thoughts rather than focused upon the task at hand. His research reveals this occurs whether we like the current activity or not. Even when we do not like the activity, mind wandering results in less happiness than being present with the unpleasant experience. Score one for “no!” to mind wandering.
Amisha Jha’s research reveals our mind wandering tends to be comprised of self-reflection and negative affect. In other words, we think about ourselves and get depressed! Again, mind wandering looks like something to avoid.
But what about times when we find ourselves slipping off into a creative wandering mode. Consider stories of artists, scientists and inventors who discovered the fruits of the their labor when they leave the studio, lab or workshop and allowed mind to go unleashed. Is this the same state studied by Killingsworth and Jha?
Going further back in the research we find the answer. Jerome Singer refers to different states of mind wandering. One form looks back into our past. This ruminative state is associated with negative thoughts and affect. More recent research also finds an increase in stress hormones with this looking backward. When looking forward, we shift into a more creative mode of wandering. Singer’s research also revealed both of these states can occur spontaneously or volitionally.
But the nuances of wandering are more than just whether we look forward or backward. Other wandering states can include a positive rewriting of past events similar to the process used in therapy (like CBT and narrative therapy) and unrealistic “what if-ing” as we drift off into the future.
A paper by Smallwood and Andrews-Hannah offers us an alternative view of mind wandering. Depending upon the complexity of the task, the content of the wandering and the baseline wellbeing of the individual, mind wandering can either be beneficial or detrimental. So much for a simple black-and-white answer to our original question - now what?!
How might we limit the negative effects and harness the positive effects of mind wandering? We can draw upon mindfulness for some possibilities. First, by increasing our capacity to observe thoughts, we can catch and shift out of backward rumination or unrealistic forward conjecturing. When we find ourselves in creative wandering, we can take note of the conditions that gave rise to this mode, both internally and externally, learning to nurture this imaginative state.
Rather than being at odds, perhaps mindfulness and mind wandering can be partnered into new modes of mental wellbeing.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3744871/
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