Daydreaming may boost creativity, but a new study from psychologists at Harvard University suggests that letting your mind wander may also lead to unhappiness. The researchers had more than 2,000 study participants use an iPhone application that randomly asked them to report their current activity and state of mind. The results indicate that people’s minds wander an awful lot: of the 22 activities subjects could choose from, sex was the only one not associated with distraction. Minds were wandering at least 30 percent of the time during everything else from work to conversation—and the more people reported being distracted, the lower they reported their mood. There may be something to “living in the moment” after all.

This article was originally published with the title Lose Focus, Lose Happiness.

4 Comments

1. 1. neverland 11:59 AM 4/8/11

   Don't you think it might be the fact that the app is knocking people out of whatever they are focused on doing that's really responsible for their negative mood? I get very annoyed when people knock me out of my daydream, especially when they try to get me to come up with a theme of these random good stories that I dream about

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2. 2. zstansfi 02:46 AM 4/9/11

   Well if "psychologists at Harvard University" conducted the study then it must be brilliant. Honestly, I cannot believe some of the junk that gets into Science, even if it is just in the "brevia" section.

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3. 3. jabralnoaimi 04:19 PM 4/9/11

   When the mind is distracted from what is at hand or the present moment then it either runs to the past with its regrets, remorse and nostalgia for what has passed or to the future with all its worries. Such continued distractions only wire and rewire the brain become more and more receptive to stress and unhappiness. That is why training the mind to keep coming gently to the present moment by simply being aware of what is happening now (i.e. just taking note of whatever is happening as it is happening such as thinking, feeling, acting, touching, etc.) gradually leads the mind to become vacuous or empty of what stresses it which translates to it becoming lighter and happier.
   
   Jabr Alnoaimi

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4. 4. Nighthawk 05:43 PM 4/11/11

   The study subjects sound like a rather unusual group of people. Who in their right mind stops in the middle of sex for an iPhone app? It certainly doesn't send a very nice message to your partner.
   
   The study sounds amazingly similar to one published last November in Science. See:
   http://www.thedoctorwillseeyounow.com/content/behavior/art3132.html

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