Don’t feel bad for daydreaming – here are 6 ways it makes you happier and healthier

Written by Ellen Scott

When’s the last time you stopped what you were doing and let your mind wander? 

Ever been told to get your head out of the clouds and stop daydreaming? There’s a general sense that getting lost in thought is a bad thing – a form of distraction and procrastination – the opposite of being productive. 

When we were at school, getting caught staring out of the window would mean a swift telling-off, and now, as adults, if you were to pause work and gaze into the distance, you’d likely be judged to be not working very hard. 

But the truth is that daydreaming is good for us. Here’s how. 

Daydreaming boosts your creativity

“Creativity is something of a mysterious force these days: everyone wants more of it, but few know how to get it,” Chris Griffiths and Caragh Medlicott, authors of The Creative Thinking Handbook, tell Stylist. “Well, luckily for you, daydreaming is one surefire way to grind those innovative cogs into action. 

“A study from the University of Calgary conducted by Julia Kam linked daydreaming to an increase in alpha waves in the brain’s frontal cortex – a trait associated with higher creativity. 

“Crucially, this study was conducted on participants performing mundane tasks and found that this creative flair only applied in instances where participants were daydreaming in a “freely moving” way, meaning worrying and mulling over the past doesn’t count. 

“Instead, let your mind run free with vivid and wide-ranging daydreams in order to feel your creative energy grow in abundance.”

It helps you solve problems

When you’re stuck on an issue, sometimes the best thing to do is hit pause and walk away. Daydreaming lets you do just that. 

“Often it seems that – just like a fly caught in a spider’s web – the more you struggle, the more you become stuck,” say Griffiths and Medlicott. “So what could be better than finding out that a break away from the problem might just help you solve it? 

“A landmark study from the University of British Columbia found that when we daydream, our brains light up with activity. Unlike focused work, which concentrates our brain like a spotlight, daydreaming enables us to activate many parts of the brain at once – a great asset for connection-making and lateral thinking. 

“The end result? Time spent mind-wandering will unwittingly provide the key solution you’ve been searching for.”

It can reduce anxiety and stress

Griffiths and Medlicott explain: “When our thoughts are trained on the external world with its deluge of demands and stresses, our internal thoughts tend to reflect this state back to us. 

“Perhaps it’s not surprising, then, that retreating into the imagined valleys of the mind can have the opposite effect. Research from psychologist Kalina Christoff suggests that mind-wandering can help to eliminate the impact of stress and anxiety. 

“Daydreaming is important for giving our minds respite from focused tasks, but when we become stressed, our brains tend to snag on negative thoughts and fixate there, effectively refocusing the mind and depleting our mental energy. The best way to loosen things up again is to mind-wander some more, allowing our focus to soften and dispersing any remaining stress and anxiety.”

Daydreaming can take you closer to your goals

Daydreaming doesn’t have to be productive to be worthwhile… but it can help you get stuff done, which is a bonus. 

“We’re most likely to associate daydreaming with goofing off from the work which will ultimately help us reach our goals, yet when worked into a proper routine, purposeful daydreaming can actually have the opposite effect,” Griffiths and Medlicott tell us. “Used purposefully, time spent imagining reaching your goal can make it more likely you’ll actually get there. 

“Perhaps you have a big pitch you need to deliver or a project you need to manage successfully. In imagining you have already achieved exactly this, and by picturing obstacles you might overcome on the way, you lay tracks to do the same in real life. 

“In fact, the technique is so effective it’s even employed by Olympic athletes, who will visualise that all-important win before the big event has actually taken place.”

It could improve your memory

Griffiths and Medlicott say: “A study published in Psychological Science shows that daydreamers perform better in information recall exercises. 

“In fact, the study indicates that daydreaming can be especially helpful for working memory (the information you need to store for just a short amount of time), meaning less time walking into rooms and forgetting what you came in for, and more time getting creative.”

It lets your mind cool off

Daydreaming is a brilliant way to give your brain a rest. 

Griffiths and Medlicott note: “A laptop left on for too long will begin to overheat. Similarly, a phone which is not plugged in will eventually run out of charge. The same logic can be applied to our brains, too. 

“From an evolutionary perspective, humans didn’t evolve to spend long and unending hours working without a break. Just as this state of increased connectivity and relaxed focus can increase your creative ability and problem-solving skills, it’s also essential for providing respite from concentrated thinking, allowing you to return to work feeling refreshed and ready to achieve more.

“In fact, a study from Microsoft shows that those who take regular breaks maintain a better level of neurological function (while those who don’t [take regular breaks] start to experience a build-up of stress within the brain).”

Chris Griffiths and Caragh Medlicott are the authors of The Creative Thinking Handbook. Griffiths is also a keynote speaker and founder of productivity and mind-mapping app ayoa.com.

Images: Getty; Stylist

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