Why we should all be happy to be a daydream believer

WITH our busy lives it can be hard to find time to sit and let the mind wander.

But it’s worth giving it a go, according to research which reveals you may enjoy daydreaming more than you expect.

A study found that we consistently underestimate how engaging simply sitting and thinking can be.

A team of researchers, including those from the University of Reading, recruited 259 people for two studies. In the first, participants heard they were part of an experiment measuring their mental processes, before being told to sit in a room for 20 minutes without any external stimulation.

Before the task, they were asked to predict if they would enjoy their time spent waiting, and how interested or bored they would feel. Then they rated their actual experience after the 20 minutes. Results showed participants felt more engagement and interest in waiting, and less boredom, than they had predicted.

In the next study, people were asked whether they would enjoy a ‘thinking-only’ or a ‘news-checking’ scenario more.

Most predicted scrolling through the news on their phone would be more fun and engaging. After they were split into groups to experience both settings, the news readers enjoyed their experience as much as they thought they would. However, those in the thinking category had a better time than expected.

Writing in the Journal of Experimental Psychology the authors said: ‘These results suggest an inherent difficulty in accurately appreciating how engaging just thinking can be, and could explain why people prefer to keep themselves busy, rather than taking a moment for reflection.’