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Mind-wandering
Research suggests we are happiest when our minds are fully present in the moment, and we are least happy when our minds wander, when we are distracted or in other words, when our attention drifts off task and away from whatever is happening here and now. This study suggests that mind-wandering is a greater predictor of happiness than all other factors they measured, including how much money we make.
What’s more, people’s minds wander a lot, on average almost half (47%) of our waking time is spent mind-wandering, that is thinking about something other than what we are currently doing. By its nature, we are largely unaware of mind-wandering, so it is likely we are also unaware of how less happy we are when our minds wander. It seems that mind-wandering is not only common, but deeply ingrained in our lives and may be the source of much unhappiness.
Not surprisingly, the mind-wandering effect on happiness may largely be due to the fact that when our minds wander they often wander to unpleasant things: worries, anxieties, regrets, frustrations, comparisons, judgements, expectations, cravings, resistances... But even when our minds are distracted by neutral or pleasant thoughts, the study shows we are still less happy than when not mind-wandering at all, ie when we are present. Could happiness be directly linked to state of presence?
Not Bagging the Mind
Thinking is good and powerful. We have an amazing capacity for cognition, reflection and imagination and it pays to use these capacities well. It’s not that we should stop mind-wandering entirely, it’s that we should be mindful of our mind-wandering. We would do well to use this capacity to our benefit and to improve life, while also learning how to manage mind-wandering so we can be fully present in the moment more often.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is about being fully present to your inner and outer worlds, in a sustained way, with an open and accepting attitude. This mindful way of being creates a space between stimulus and response, between impulse and action, that allows us to choose how we want to respond and behave instead of reacting or behaving impulsively or via habit in ‘auto-pilot’ mode. Mindfulness is the perfect antidote to mind-wandering, and is a well-known tool for managing attention and being present.
Attention
To understand why mind-wandering can have such an impact on us, it helps to understand a little about attention. Attention is our primary and most powerful tool to determine the nature and quality of our experience, and the experiences we have determine the nature and quality of our life. In other words, to be in control of your life you must be in control of your attention. The state of your attention determines the state of your life, and if your attention is scattered and distracted the state of your life will reflect that.
Attention is essentially the brain’s boss. Wherever your attention goes, energy and information flows, and your whole brain power goes. Attention is a complex and incredibly powerful cognitive system that developed because the brain suffered from information overload. There is too much information out there and if we want to achieve anything, we need to be able to attend to it, or in other words, put our mind to it without being distracted. Attention is multi-faceted and also allows us the ability to focus on more than one thing, to maintain focus over long periods and to prioritise steps toward achieving goals (keep all the balls in the air!).
Habit
We are, however, creatures of habit, and while we possess powerful attentional potential, an estimated 40 to 95% of human behaviour — how we think, what we say, what we do and how much our mind’s wander — is habitual, meaning we have hard-wired the neural pathways in our brain to respond to cues and perform tasks automatically, without conscious thought or our undivided attention. This provides us with the ability to do one thing and think about something else. Fortunately, the neuroplasticity of the brain enables us to change even hard-worn habits of mind-wandering, thinking, feeling and behaving.
Managing Attention – aka Meditation or Being Mindful
Whatever you think about meditation, common, secular techniques build your ability to manage attention and regulate emotions, allowing you to be present in the moment (mindful) without being distracted or reactive, to find flow and focus, be relaxed, effective, engaged and creative. It’s not that distractions stop, it’s that we learn to recognise when our attention has drifted and bring it back to the activity, priority or intention we choose. Put simply, we are in control of where we focus our attention at any given moment, and so we are in full control of our time, energy and actions.
But, I Don’t Have Time to Meditate
For those who say, “I don’t have time to meditate”, research shows that feeling time poor is an illusion and feeling there is not enough time in the day has more to do with one’s distracted state of mind than lack of hours. This study showed that for all but single parents, people take longer longer to complete the necessary activities of daily work and life than is strictly necessary. While this study didn’t explore why people take longer than necessary to complete tasks, the discrepancies could be due to mind-wandering, lack of focus, distraction or the inefficiencies of multi-tasking.
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you don’t have enough time. We are less efficient, creative and good at making decisions when our mind’s are busy with lots of things to think about. That is exactly when we benefit from pausing to recenter and reset, by coming back to the present moment before moving on to our next task. As Mahatma Ghandi said, “I have a very busy day today so I shall meditate for two hours instead of one.”
Fortunately, it only takes a few minutes to get out of an overthinking (wandering) mind and back into the present, where you can respond skilfully and calmly. Try our 4-minute mini meditation to pause and reset throughout your day. Practice 2-3 times a day for 10-15 minutes (the commonly recommended ‘dose’) of daily meditation/mindfulness.
4-minute Mini Meditation. An exercise to reduce mind-wandering.
Practicing mini-meditations (less than 5 minutes) throughout the day - in between tasks, meetings, while you wait, etc - is a great way to strengthen your attention and remain present in the moment.
1. Sit comfortably with an upright and relaxed back. Look around and notice the location you are in, the walls (if inside), furniture, objects, shapes, colours, materials around you. Also notice the space itself. Then close your eyes or softly gaze downwards.
2. Take three deep breaths, breathing in through your nose, expanding your belly, then hold your breath for 2 or 3 seconds and slowly exhale, perhaps sighing your breath out, and let your body relax. Let go of tension and tightness in your body. Notice how it feels to breathe air in and out of your body and how it feels to relax tensions in your body.
3. Breathe normally and feel the weight of your body with gravity on the chair, and your feet on the floor. Feel the chair supporting your body, feel the floor supporting your feet. Sense the Earth holding you up. Let your body relax into the chair and let your feet relax into the floor.
4. Become aware of your nose and pay attention to the feeling of air passing across your nostrils as you breathe in and out. Notice the air feels slightly cooler as you breathe in and warmer as you breathe out. To help you stay focused on your breath, silently repeat the word ‘calm’ to yourself as you breathe out.
5. Keep bringing your attention back. Every time you notice your attention has drifted, which it always does, bring it back to the feeling of air pass across your nostrils and repeating the word calm. The mind likes to wander and think, that’s human nature. It doesn’t matter how often your mind drifts into thought, all that matters is that each time you notice, you bring your attention back to the feeling of your breath, without judging or criticising yourself. This is the training of attention.
6. After one minute, or when you feel more settled, open your awareness up to notice the sensations of aliveness within your body. Notice the tingling, vibrating, pulsing feelings within you. Feel the life and energy within you.
7. When you are ready, take one last deep breath, expand your belly as you breathe in, and slowly exhale. Feel your body on the chair. Feel your feet on the floor. Gently open your eyes, notice the space around you and take a moment to adjust before becoming fully alert again.
This article is an excerpt from our guide, ‘7 Simple Practices to Reduce Mind-Wandering and Increase Happiness’.
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