When I daydream I usually fall into a trance; it gets so powerful that I can literally see things as if I’m watching a movie. My sight goes blurry and I fixate on an object. When I’m around people they even start snapping fingers in my face so I “wake up”.
I encourage everyone to practice mindfulness daily as I understand the importance of being in the present moment, but at the same time, I’m an advocate of letting go of “awareness”, and productively diving into the story of the mind; I promise you this is not a waste of time.
I’m a fan of enabling unfocus, because when I allow myself to think randomly, I’m able to find new connections between ideas, but there’s so much more to it than that.
3 types of Daydreaming
Jerome L. Singer (Psychology Professor at Yale) has done extensive research on three different aspects of daydreaming:
- Positive constructive daydreaming: the positive, adaptive role that daydreaming plays in our daily life.
- Guilty dysphoric daydreaming: the obsessive thoughts, getting anguished by the fantasies.
- Poor attentional control: the inability to concentrate on either the ongoing thought or the external task.
Singer suggests there’s a relationship between daydreaming and: personality, creativity, planning, problem-solving, curiosity, attention, and distractibility. He also argues that it can reinforce and enhance: social skills, offer relief from boredom, provide opportunities for rehearsal and constructive planning, and provide an ongoing source of pleasure.
“Spontaneous prospective thought is adaptive because it advances personally relevant goals.” – Baird et al. (2011)
The trick is not getting too attached to thoughts, all that glitters is not gold. Instead, put those thoughts “on a leash” as you navigate your stream of consciousness for “autobiographical planning”. This is why training your monkey mind with meditation is important.
The Daydream Practice
If you wish to create a deliberate practice, then I suggest following these 4 steps for a more productive daydream state as laid out in the book “Tinker Dabble Doodle Try”, by the author Dr. Srini Pillay:
- Schedule a time to unfocus.
- Just like meditation, sit down and turn your attention inwards.
- Do something low-key, like knitting, coloring or gardening.
- Be aware of the content of your thoughts, don’t let it become a rumination of the past.
Whenever you catch yourself getting lost in thought remember that you will be practicing:
- Creative incubation and problem solving,
- Future planning by connecting meaningful goals,
- Naturally distributing short breaks from external tasks.
