When Daydreaming Becomes Unhealthy

Escaping from reality when you shouldn’t be

We all loose track of time when day dreaming.

Mind wanders when the activity in progress is not stimulating enough or beyond our current ability, so we resort to making hypothetical scenarios — which make us feel good — like fantasizing.

Our thoughts create emotions. By natural selection, the mind tries to repeat behaviors that feel good and require less effort. Daydreaming can become a habit.

If you are fascinated by fictional characters while reading novels, most probably you daydream a lot too.

When the lecture is boring, I slip into daydreaming. Interacting with the material and connecting the ideas professor is teaching helps me to stay in the present moment. I even ask a question to stop my mind from drifting. Being aware and catching yourself the instant you slip is the key.

Next time, I am not daydreaming about being a homicide detective in humanities class; otherwise, a lot would go undetected in the present.

Two techniques have been helpful to me.

1) Aiming to accomplish easy tasks in lesser time.

2) Breaking a challenging task into chunks so it appears manageable.

I am not saying mind wandering is totally futile. It reduces stress, and anxiety and helps in creativity; in fact, all the ‘Aha’ moments are credited to mind wandering. The problem is when it becomes a distraction.