What is Mind Wandering: Is your mind going here and there?
While mind wandering exercises seem quite enjoyable, on the one hand, it is a very difficult phenomenon to embody due to the nature of the mind. However, with the lack of a universal definition, developments in neuroscience and neuroimaging allow the theories of mind navigation to be studied from different perspectives.
While conscious awareness and thinking on thought (Metacognition) studies are being studied quite often nowadays, I have been thinking about this concept frequently. For example; mind wandering;
- While trying to focus on one point during meditation, think about the dinner you will have at that time.
- Trying to fall asleep, flashing visions of what might happen in tomorrow's exam,Spinning a negative criticism in your mind at that moment in a work where you think you are doing your best
- While drinking coffee, the subject of the article suddenly comes to mind
- Thinking about your girlfriend during training that you find boring
- Thinking about plans for the next day while taking a shower
- We can give examples such as when you are focused on the dialogue in the movie you watched, your mind suddenly drifts to the speech you will make at the meeting tomorrow.
And besides, the mind that thinks about thought sometimes comes into play at these moments and inquires like “what's the point of this meditation now” or “is it the time for me to think about it” or “where did these thoughts come from” is the routine we all live in in our daily lives. from moments.
At this point, I think of scenes from the Harry Potter movie where Snape teaches Harry to control his own mind so that Voldemort won't get into Harry's mind.
One cannot help but wonder whether such mental control is really possible, especially in situations experienced in the face of sensory and emotional stimuli.
What does mind wandering mean, why might one be doing it?
Research focuses on the fact that mind wandering is mostly unexpected and automatic. You can think of it as thought bubbles that suddenly appear in your mind. That's why they emphasize that thoughts that are purpose-oriented and consciously goal-oriented should not be counted as mind wandering.
It is thought that we do mental navigation at a rate of 30-50% in our daily lives. So it's pretty common. Research often asks, “Are you thinking about something other than what you are currently doing?” They try to detect these mind wanderings done independently of the task by using questions such as
We can predict from our own experience that, regardless of the task performed, the wandering of thoughts from time to time affects the performance of the work we are going to do. Sometimes a presentation that you can finish in 2 hours can take up to 5 hours. But there are also points where mind wandering is functional.
Researchers suggest that one reason people wander the mind is to solve current situations. People need to solve their daily problems, worries. Also to practice it in their minds and to look at their problems from another perspective before reaching the solution. Thus, thoughts practiced in the mind, different perspectives prepare us for the situation and allow us to give a new creative response to the situation. In this sense, human beings tend to dream.
The difference between creative thinking and mind wandering is as follows; Unlike mind wandering, creative thinking functions under a deliberately directed mind control of target-oriented perceptions, movements and thoughts. In other words, contrary to popular belief, creative thoughts do not suddenly appear in our heads. It contains within itself a prompt, an outline, goal-directed behavior and organization.
In what situations is mind navigation not functional?
The prefrontal cortex is known as the region responsible for performing different components of executive functions. This area, which we call the executive functions of the brain, includes functions such as planning, organization, using time, flexibility, goal orientation, impulse control, task initiation, behavior and emotional control.
Accordingly, thoughts are produced automatically and continuously, but if there is an ongoing task, these intrusive flows flow into this part of the brain, which we call executive functions, in order to maintain attention to the task.
blocked by. Failure of the working memory to work well and the failure of the control system in executive functions to maintain attention cause mental wanderings and mental confusion is experienced. When these mental wanderings distract you from a task and a task too often or prevent you from starting the task, it loses its functionality. It leads to performance degradation and attention errors.
In addition, the researchers say that the difference between thought types in mind wandering creates an important distinction. In other words, repetitive thoughts on the same theme, called rumination, are evaluated differently from mental wandering. While mental wandering is defined as the flexible movement of thoughts "from one place to another" independent of the stimulus, on the contrary, Rumination is seen as the state of staying fixed on a single theme or subject, even though it occurs independently of the stimulus.
As it is known, people with depression and anxiety disorders frequently engage in ruminations, which are defined as "repetitively and passively focusing on distress symptoms" and "fixing" on one's own problems and feelings related to them. They are characterized by inflexible, persistent, overly self-focused, and often negative thoughts.
Similarly, inattention, hyperactivity/impulsivity, which can occur in both children and adults, is also manifested by impairments in executive functions. People with this condition experience delays in attention. They have difficulty completing cognitive tasks. Response times are prolonged. They are manifested by excessive thoughts not related to the task.
As a result, in the context of mind wandering thought type;
- negative themes are frequently repeated,
- being too fixated on one subject,
- It would be more helpful to get support if it seems that excessive thoughts cause loss of performance regardless of the task.
How do I refocus my attention from mind wandering to what I am doing, or how much time should I devote to mind wandering?
Improving the areas of the brain, which we call executive functions, such as planning, organization, using time, flexibility, targeting, impulse control, task initiation, behavior and emotional control, increase our performance and improve creative thinking.
The first thing that will support this journey of the brain from the limbic system, which we call the "dinosaur brain," to the cortex, is to feed that dinosaur first! :)
First, to be aware of their bodily needs; such as hunger, sleep, safety, sexual needs, need for contact. .
To increase attention, awareness of thoughts, write down every thought that goes through your mind for 3 minutes.
To increase awareness in the moment, focusing the mind on a single object and performing 5 sense activities on the selected object. (such as taste, texture, smell, sound, appearance)
Focusing bodily on the senses to feel the presence of the body in the moment; feeling the floor where you sit, thinking about the smell, looking at the sounds you make, watching the bodily movements you make, maybe touching the aching place you need to massage
To increase your performance in your work, such as taking quality breaks, walking for 10 minutes, short breathing exercises, a pleasant conversation with a pleasant friend.
And you must have your own time, let your thoughts wander freely from place to place in your mind, create free time to have fun with those running thoughts and do what you want.
Doing these will give you the energy and focus you need—when you get back to the jobs you need to look after!
Now think about what these fluctuations of your mind look like and turn it into something tangible! For example, mine is like this right now
Have a nice trip!
