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Coaches’ Corner: ADHD, Mind-Wandering, and Meta-Awareness: What the Research Says

• Posted by ADDA Editorial Team
• Categories ADHD Coaching
• Date September 17, 2022
• Comments 0 comment

“My son’s teachers tell me he spends too much of the time daydreaming in class.”

“I try to do the reading for my college classes, but so often my mind just wanders.”

“I am having some trouble at work because my mind keeps wandering during meetings and I can’t participate effectively.”

If you have ADHD, you probably recognize these types of concerns. Daydreaming or mind-wandering are frequent experiences with ADHD. These symptoms can interfere with your day-to-day functioning and activities and can lead to frustration and even embarrassment at times.

Previous research has demonstrated a link between mind-wandering and symptoms of ADHD. A recent article by Franklin and colleagues in Journal of Attention Disorders examined the relationship of ADHD symptoms to mind-wandering in detail. In this study, the researchers also looked at what they termed “detrimental” mind-wandering (being stuck dwelling on a problem, for example) as well as being aware of one’s own mind-wandering. Awareness of one’s thinking is called “meta-awareness.”

You can read below about this study and its findings, or just skip down to the “tips” section if you prefer.

Originally published on June 24th, 2015, this article was updated and republished on September 17th, 2022.

The research study

The study by Franklin and colleagues included 105 adults, 77 of whom were female, with an average age of 23 years. Study subjects were recruited from fliers posted on the campus of the University of British Columbia. There were some financial incentives for participation.

Study participants were not formally diagnosed with ADHD. Instead, ADHD symptoms in the participants were assessed using two ADHD scales. It’s important to note that we don’t know if any of the participants were actually diagnosed with ADHD.

Mind-wandering was observed in a lab setting, while participants completed tasks such as reading, as well as during participant’s daily life activities.

Key study findings

It will probably not surprise you to learn that study participants with higher scores on the ADHD symptom scales demonstrated more mind wandering, more “detrimental” mind-wandering, and less strategic or future planning-oriented mind-wandering.

Higher ADHD symptom scores were also related to lower scores on meta-awareness measures. That is, participants with higher ADHD scores were less likely to be aware of mind-wandering when it occurred. This lack of awareness led to more detrimental effects.

The Franklin study suggests that an individual struggling with a wandering mind can build self-awareness – or mindfulness – skills to help his or her brain stay on track.

Finally, this study suggests a positive finding about ADHD: there may be a relationship between ADHD symptoms and creative mind-wandering, and possibly a more rich internal life as well. Mind-wandering has its benefits!

Tips for managing mind-wandering

This study suggests that strategies improving meta-awareness – or mindful awareness – of mind-wandering may have a beneficial impact. Here are some strategies that might help:

• Use of interrupting alarms

Set a phone alarm, smart watch, or kitchen timer, to ring at 5-15 minute intervals. When the alarm rings, ask yourself if you are on task. If yes, celebrate and continue! If no, you can choose to get back on task. Either way, re-set the alarm.

Mindfulness practices

 Mindfulness simply means having full awareness of your thoughts, feelings and actions in the present moment. Becoming more mindful can assist awareness of and attention to what you are thinking or doing at any point in time. Mindfulness can be developed through practice of certain meditations and exercises (see Resources below) that help train awareness and attention. The more one practices mindfulness meditation and exercises—even brief practice sessions, such as 5-10 minutes of meditation several days a week—the easier it can become to notice your thoughts and to bring yourself back from a distracting thought to the task at hand.

 One specific mindfulness practice, called STOP, focuses on pulling your attention into the present moment. Here’s how it works:

S – Stop what you are doing/thinking

T- Take a deep breath

O – Observe what you were doing, thinking, feeling

P – Proceed with choice, either return to what you had intended to be doing or decide to consciously shift to another task.

  Self-talk

 Developing self-talk about sticking to a task can help curb mind-wandering. For example, when starting a task, tell yourself “I am going to be doing (name of task) now.” You might even include how long you intend to be doing it: “I am going to spend the next 20 minutes doing (name of task).” Then, periodically check in to see if your action is matching your intention: ”Am I doing (name of task)?” If you are, pat yourself on the back and stick with it! If you are not, you can choose to get back to it: “OK, I am going to get back to (name of task) for 10 more minutes.” This self-talk can help keep you on-track.

  Bonus: Combining the use of alarms, mindfulness practices and self-talk can be especially powerful in addressing distraction and mind-wandering.

Finally, let’s not forget to celebrate the benefits of mind-wandering for creative thinking and a rich internal life. You might even want to set aside some time in your schedule to let your mind wander on purpose. You may come up with some great ideas or interesting solutions to problems you’ve been facing!

  After all, “Not all those who wander are lost.” – J.R.R. Tolkien

You can join virtual peer support groups, find ADHD coaches, access 200+ webinars, and more when you join ADDA+ .

Resources for developing mindfulness include:

• Lidia Zylowska’s book The MindfulnessPrescription for Adult ADHD ,
• A 9-session tele-class I teach on mindfulness and ADHD (see www.lizahmann.com/mindfulness)
• Other mindfulness classes available in your community or online.

Franklin, et al. (2014). Tracking Distraction: The Relationship Between Mind-Wandering, Meta-Awareness, and ADHD Symptomatology. Journal of Attention Disorders (online Aug 1, 2014). DOI: 10.1177/1087054714543494

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How Mind-Wandering May Be Good For You

When writing a song or a piece of prose, I often choose to let my mind wander, hoping the muse will strike. If it does, it not only moves my work along but feels great, too!

That’s why I was troubled by studies that found an association between mind-wandering and problems like unhappiness and depression —and even a shorter life expectancy . This research suggests that focusing one’s thoughts on the present moment is linked to well-being, while spacing out—which I personally love to do—is not.

Now, new studies are bringing nuance to this science. Whether or not mind-wandering is a negative depends on a lot of factors—like whether it’s purposeful or spontaneous, the content of your musings, and what kind of mood you are in. In some cases, a wandering mind can lead to creativity, better moods, greater productivity, and more concrete goals.

Here is what some recent research says about the upsides of a meandering mind.

Mind-wandering can make you more creative

It’s probably not a big surprise that mind-wandering augments creativity—particularly “divergent thinking,” or being able to come up with novel ideas.

In one study , researchers gave participants a creativity test called the Unusual Uses Task that asks you to dream up novel uses for an everyday item, like a paperclip or a newspaper. Between the first and second stages, participants either engaged in an undemanding task to encourage mind-wandering or a demanding task that took all of their concentration; or they were given a resting period or no rest. Those participants who engaged in mind-wandering during the undemanding task improved their performance much more than any of the other groups. Taking their focus off of the task and mind-wandering, instead, were critical to success.


“The findings reported here provide arguably the most direct evidence to date that conditions that favor mind-wandering also enhance creativity,” write the authors. In fact, they add, mind-wandering may “serve as a foundation for creative inspiration.”

As a more recent study found, mind-wandering improved people’s creativity above and beyond the positive effects of their reading ability or fluid intelligence, the general ability to solve problems or puzzles.

Mind-wandering seems to involve the default network of the brain, which is known to be active when we are not engaged directly in tasks and is also related to creativity.

So perhaps I’m right to let my focus wander while writing: It helps my mind put together information in novel and potentially compelling ways without my realizing it. It’s no wonder that my best inspirations seem to come when I’m in the shower or hiking for miles on end.

Mind-wandering can make you happier…depending on the content

The relationship between mind-wandering and mood may be more complicated than we thought.

In one study , researchers pinged participants on a regular basis to see what they were doing, whether or not their minds were wandering, and how they were feeling. As in an earlier experiment , people tended to be in a negative mood when they were mind-wandering. But when researchers examined the content of people’s thoughts during mind-wandering, they found an interesting caveat: If participants’ minds were engaged in interesting, off-task musings, their moods became more positive rather than more negative.

As the authors conclude, “Those of us who regularly find our minds in the clouds—musing about the topics that most engage us—can take solace in knowing that at least this form of mind-wandering is associated with elevated mood.”

It may be that mood affects mind-wandering more than the other way around . In a similar study , researchers concluded that feeling sad or being in a bad mood tended to lead to unhappy mind-wandering, but that mind-wandering itself didn’t lead to later bad moods. Earlier experiments may have conflated mind-wandering with rumination—an unhealthy preoccupation with past failures that is tied to depression.

“This study suggests that mind-wandering is not something that is inherently bad for our happiness,” write the authors. Instead, “Sadness is likely to lead the mind to wander and that mind-wandering is likely to be [emotionally] negative.”

A review of the research on mind-wandering came to a similar conclusion: Mind-wandering is distinct from rumination and therefore has a different relationship to mood.


Compassion Meditation

Strengthen feelings of concern for the suffering of others

Can we actually direct our mind-wandering toward more positive thoughts and away from rumination? It turns out that we can! One study found that people who engaged in compassion-focused meditation practices had more positive mind-wandering. As an added bonus, people with more positive mind-wandering were also more caring toward themselves and others, which itself is tied to happiness.

Mind-wandering may improve job performance

Taking a break from work can be a good thing—perhaps because our minds are freer to wander.

Mind-wandering is particularly useful when work is mind-numbing. In one study , participants reported on their mind-wandering during a repetitive task. Participants who engaged in more mind-wandering performed better and faster, decreasing their response times significantly. The researchers speculated that mind-wandering allowed people to go off-task briefly, reset, and see data with fresh eyes—so that they didn’t miss sudden changes.

In another study , researchers aimed to figure out what parts of the brain were implicated in mind-wandering and discovered something unexpected. When their frontal lobes were stimulated with a small electrical current to boost mind-wandering, people’s performance on an attention task slightly improved.

Of course, not every job calls for mind-wandering. A surgeon or a driver should stay focused on the task at hand, since mind-wandering could be detrimental to both . On the other hand, even for them it might be rejuvenating to take a mind-wandering break after their workday is over, leading to more focused attention the next time around.

Mind-wandering may help us with goal-setting

It seems like mind-wandering would be detrimental when it comes to planning for the future. In fact, some research suggests mind-wandering can improve goal-setting.

In a recent neuroscience experiment , participants did an undemanding task and reported on the content of their thoughts as researchers scanned their brains with fMRI. Afterwards, they wrote for 15 minutes about personal goals or TV programs (the control group). Then, they repeated these two tasks—the undemanding one and writing about goals or TV.

More on Mind-Wandering

Explore whether mind wandering makes you unhappy or less caring .

Discover how to focus a wandering mind .

Read Rick Hanson’s seven tips for paying attention .

Read a skeptical scientist’s take on the relationship between mindfulness and mind-wandering .

Analyzers unaware of the study’s purpose were asked to assess the concreteness of participants’ goal-setting and TV program descriptions. The result? People with wandering minds—who probably started musing about what they really wanted in life after the first writing session—ultimately came up with more concrete and higher-quality goal descriptions in the second session. Over the course of the experiment, their brains also showed an increase in connectivity between the hippocampus and the pre-frontal cortex—areas implicated in goal-setting.

Research has also found that, the more people engage in mind-wandering during a task, the more they are willing to wait for a reward afterwards. According to the researchers, this suggests that mind-wandering helps delay gratification and “engages processes associated with the successful management of long-term goals.”

On the other hand, some research suggests mind-wandering makes us less “gritty”—or less able to stay focused on our goals to completion—especially if it is spontaneous rather than deliberate. So, it may be important to consider where you are in the process of goal creation before deciding mind-wandering would be a good idea.

None of this suggests that mind-wandering is better for us than being focused. More likely, both aspects of cognition serve a purpose. Under the right circumstances, a wandering mind may actually benefit us and possibly those around us. The trick is to know when to set your mind free.

About the Author

Jill Suttie

Jill Suttie, Psy.D. , is Greater Good ’s former book review editor and now serves as a staff writer and contributing editor for the magazine. She received her doctorate of psychology from the University of San Francisco in 1998 and was a psychologist in private practice before coming to Greater Good .

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“9 Calming Strategies for a Racing, Restless Mind.”

“although it can be exhausting to live in my head, i now feel so much more in control after learning and implementing techniques that help calm my racing mind. here’s the formula i’m constantly tweaking, ensuring that the daily dance with my thoughts is a mostly positive one.”.

Prior to my diagnosis, I assumed that my inner chatter, curiosity, questioning, hypervigilance, and overthinking were pretty normal. I wondered why no one else seemed so completely drained by the end of the day, but I did not yet appreciate the extent to which people with ADHD dwell inside their particularly busy heads. Yes, I am always taking in other people’s thoughts and opinions, but the real exhaustion came from contending with my own, disruptive inner chatter.

The ‘H’ in ADHD, I learned, doesn’t just refer to physical hyperactivity (although sitting for long periods isn’t easy for me). It is also very much connected to ‘ internal restlessness ’ and a fired-up nervous system – in itself connected to emotional burnout. When my diagnosing psychiatrist explained this to me, it was like the heavens opened, and I could hear the angelic echo of ‘hallelujah.’ Finally, I understood the cause of my frequent mental exhaustion, and why I often prefer to listen, rather than talk.

Don’t get me wrong – having a busy brain that runs at x 1.5 speed can also be a huge asset. I’m the queen of ideas, from brainstorming to problem solving to matchmaking (I have a mental Rolodex of single friends and have orchestrated four successful relationships to date).

But an ever-running mind has caused some major headaches over the years. With four children (one already diagnosed with ADHD), overthinking and catastrophizing doesn’t help much. Years of working in public relations had me convinced that one oversight on my part could mean the end of an entire business. True insight into how my mind works could have spared me years of anxiety and worry.

Before I was diagnosed with ADHD, I thought I was just a neurotic killjoy, sapping the fun out of most situations with my anxiety-ridden ‘what if’ and catastrophe-setting scenarios. Now I recognize that overthinking and ruminating are common to the ADHD experience.

[ On Rumination: How to Stop Obsessive Thoughts ]

Although it can be exhausting to live in my head, I now feel so much more in control after learning and implementing techniques that help calm my racing mind.

So here is my formula that I’m constantly tweaking, ensuring that the daily dance with my thoughts is mostly a positive one.

How to Relax Your ADHD Mind

1. take action — any action..

If we know that we have the tendency to live in our heads, then sometimes taking the smallest step forward can be enough to quiet our thoughts, worries, and anxieties.

Staying in the rumination zone leads to procrastination, perfectionism, guilt, imposter syndrome or believing we’re unable to do anything. But taking any action often leads us out of this zone. Action, in many ways, is the antidote to a busy mind. When our focus is away from our automated thoughts, we can pour more focus, love, patience and creativity into the things that matter. The more we access this, the less space we have to overthink negative thoughts.

[ Read: 6 Ways to a Worry-Free Mind ]

2. Try to be more intentional with your thoughts.

Guard your headspace, and pay attention to where you’re focusing your mental energy; set clear boundaries for emotional wellbeing. When we’re not intentionally choosing the right thoughts, the negativity can quickly become our reality and we begin attracting relatable scenarios to match what we’re energetically absorbing. Try this EFT tapping video to help you overcome your anxious thinking and ruminating.

3. Dismiss the thoughts that do not serve you.

Just because it’s in your head doesn’t mean you have to believe it. Make a conscious effort every day to return your brain to a neutral thought and avoid getting sucked in by the negative. Take five minutes in the morning, before you check your phone, to do some meditating , breathing, or tapping to ground yourself and decrease reactivity. No matter what, don’t allow a negative narrative to pull you off path and limit your success – whatever that may look like.

4. Notice your triggers.

Create mental boundaries to protect yourself from certain thoughts or beliefs that aren’t serving your highest good. The TV shows or channels we watch, the podcasts we choose, the people with whom we engage, and the books we read can all inform our self-beliefs – sometimes in the negative. These combine to play a feedback loop to our brains, potentially making our ruminations even scarier.

Take notice of the activities and people that align with your values and contribute to inner peace. Magnetize yourself to only the stuff that creates positive energy, action and change. If the other stuff fills you with dread, unpack it and decide if it’s there to serve you or shame you.

5. Commit to what makes you feel best.

What makes you feel good? What would improve your day? Whether it’s a yoga class, singing, baking, exercising, dancing, or chatting with a friend, try incorporating one element of joy into your day to keep your mind in a more positive state.

If you’re unable to commit to a feel-good activity, think deep about where the push/pull is coming from, and what areas of your life can be adjusted.

6. Resisting isn’t always the answer.

Embrace and accept the way your brain works. Trying to put a full stop to your thoughts will never work; that resistance often contributes to our internal battles and anxiety. In understanding our brains more, we empower ourselves to make conscious and aligned thought choices every day.

Try EFT tapping , which helps the brain step out of fight or flight mode and instead activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which is associated with calm and stress reduction. Taking an opportunity to pause and consciously breathe can also do wonders to quiet the mind, as can meditation – being conscious of our thoughts with no judgement.

7. Relax the body.

Try this powerful technique of noticeably softening your body by recognizing where you’re holding tension. This grounding exercise allows the body and mind to simultaneously relax and become more present. You can do this reset as many times as you need (I do it up to 20 times a day) to help recalibrate and regulate your emotions.

Physically shaking it off is another way to jolt your system “out of it.” In all, any form of physical movement you enjoy is great for disengaging the brain from overthinking.

8. Attend to your restlessness.

Could your inner restlessness be trying to tell you something? Do your thoughts and worries follow a pattern? Consider gently inviting them in for a change. Learning to sit with your thoughts and reconnect with your intuition can be especially valuable with ADHD in the picture. Our hypersensitivity and emotional dysregulation can sometimes lead us off course and plague us with self-doubt, which is why it’s important to train the skill of recognizing when something feels right or wrong.

9. A sense of humor helps.

Being able to laugh at ourselves can be a powerful tool toward self-compassion and kindness. A sense of humor removes the heaviness of a situation while offering commonality and interconnectedness. Develop your sense of humor and lightness by embracing your truth, learning to open up with vulnerability, and speaking with honesty.

How to Relax Your Mind: Next Steps

• Read: How to Feel Carefree When You Have ADHD
• Read: “Why Do I Assume the Worst-Case Scenario?” How to Stop the ADHD Mind from Worrying
• Download: Make Mindfulness Work for You

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Let Your Mind Wander

Experience the benefits of daydreaming in creativity and problem solving..

Posted February 20, 2024 | Reviewed by Davia Sills

• Understanding Attention
• Find a therapist to help with ADHD
• Mind wandering is a universal human experience rooted in evolution and brain science.
• Creative thinking and problem-solving happen when people's minds wander.
• Mind wandering also allows individuals to simulate the future and script their range of responses.

Comedian Steven Wright deadpanned, “I was trying to daydream, but my mind kept wandering.” With that quip, he encapsulated the universal human experience of mind wandering .

Our minds are never idle. When not focused on doing a specific task or achieving a goal, we daydream, fantasize , ruminate, reminisce about something in the past, or worry about something in the future.

In fact, research with thought-sampling techniques has shown that an average of 47 percent of our time is spent with our mind wandering. 1 Think of it: nearly half our waking hours!

Research also suggests that mind wandering is not time wasted but a constructive mental tool supporting creativity, problem-solving, and better mood.

Creativity Benefits From Mind Wandering

Mind wandering can be negative and obsessive and present obstacles to accomplishing goals . Left to their own devices, people may gravitate toward the negative.

But that is only part of the story. Many reveries are welcome, playful, creative daydreams to be nourished. Mind wandering allows us to learn from our imagination . Consequently, mind wandering is critical to “creative incubation,” the background mental work that precedes our insightful “Aha!” moments.

In my lab, we have found that broad and unrestrained mind wandering can also promote better mood among people with mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression .

Learning Through Imagined Experience

Memory stores actual experience. It can also hold the outcome of experiences we imagine or simulated scenarios. I’ll give you an example.

While on an airplane flight once, I was reviewing a paper, and my mind drifted until it landed on the emergency door, which triggered the following simulation: What if the door suddenly opens while we are in the air?

I will need a parachute, I thought. I could probably use the airplane blanket on my lap, but I will not be able to hold on to it in the strong wind—it needs holes. I can use my pen to make the holes. And so on.

This story is far-fetched and funny, but nevertheless, I now have, from an imagined experience, a script stored in my memory that would be helpful should the unlikely event ever happen.

We do this often, and not always about possible catastrophes. By fabricating possible future experiences, we have memories that we can call on to navigate our lives and fall back on to guide our behavior in the future.

Wandering Is the Brain’s Default

One of the most meaningful developments in recent neuroscience is the serendipitous discovery of the brain network that hosts our mind wandering: substantial cortical regions clustered together in the brain’s “ default mode network .”

Wandering is what our brain does by default. So, logic dictates that if our brains dedicate so much energy to mind wandering, mind wandering should play an important role.

There is a trade-off, though. With all the benefits of creative thinking , planning, decision-making , and mood, mind wandering takes us away from the present. Evolution seems to have prioritized our ability to survive and flourish over our ability to cherish the moment.

I remember having lunch at a cafe in Tel Aviv with a visiting professor from Stanford. I greatly admire his work and his personality . At one point in our conversation, he told me he had once heard something that had completely changed him, how he thinks, and how he lives his life, and he wanted to share it with me.

I have no idea what it was. Despite his dramatic introduction, my mind drifted far away as he spoke. I was too embarrassed to tell him I hadn’t caught what he’d said once I realized what had happened. I can only imagine how odd he must have thought it was that I didn’t comment meaningfully on what he’d said but quickly changed the subject.

Happily, though, I can report that my mind had wandered to something interesting in my own life. Perverse as our mind wandering can be, at least it generally does have a purpose.

Put a Wandering Mind to Use

Most of what we do regularly involves some creation or production, from making food to fixing a leaky shower, from writing a letter to gardening. Even thinking is an act of creation. New ideas, inventions, and plans you make while your mind wanders are all products your mind created.

While we cannot direct our mind as to what to wander about, we can strive to fill the mental space of possibilities with what we would have liked to wander about, either because we seek new ideas, because it makes us feel good, or both.

Before I go on a long walk or do any other activity that is not overly demanding, I ask myself what is on my mind. If it is something like the bills I just paid or an annoying email, I try to replace it with something I’d rather spend my mind-wandering stretch on instead.

I might reread a paragraph that caught my interest recently. Or I might bring back a problem that engaged me before I gave up on it or warm up the idea of an upcoming trip so I can fine-tune the details as I simulate the future with my mind.

This post was adapted from M indwandering: How Your Constant Mental Drift Can Improve Your Mood and Boost Your Creativity by Moshe Bar, Ph.D.

1. Killingsworth, M. R., & Gilbert, D. T. (2010). A wandering mind is an unhappy mind. Science, 330(6006), 932. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1192439

Moshe Bar, Ph.D. , is a cognitive neuroscientist and the former Director of the Cognitive Neuroscience Lab at Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts General Hospital.

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ADD: Wandering Minds and Wired Bodies (Resources for Changing Lives) Paperback – December 1, 1999

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• Print length 32 pages
• Language English
• Publisher P&R Publishing
• Publication date December 1, 1999
• Dimensions 4.24 x 0.14 x 6.98 inches
• ISBN-10 0875526764
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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ P&R Publishing; Bklt edition (December 1, 1999)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 32 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0875526764
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0875526768
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.12 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.24 x 0.14 x 6.98 inches
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About the author

Edward T. Welch, MDiv, PhD, is a licensed psychologist and faculty member at the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation (CCEF). He earned a PhD in counseling (neuropsychology) from the University of Utah and has a Master of Divinity degree from Biblical Theological Seminary. Ed has been counseling for over thirty years and has written extensively on the topics of depression, fear, and addictions. His biblical counseling books include Shame Interrupted; When People Are Big and God Is Small; Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave; Depression: Looking Up from the Stubborn Darkness; Crossroads: A Step-by-Step Guide Away from Addiction; Running Scared: Fear, Worry, and the God of Rest; When I Am Afraid: A Step-by-Step Guide Away from Fear and Anxiety; Side by Side: Walking with Others in Wisdom and Love; and A Small Book about a Big Problem: Meditations on Anger, Patience, and Peace.

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It’s normal for your mind to wander. Here’s how to maximise the benefits

Psychology researcher, Bond University

Associate Professor in Psychology, Bond University

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The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Bond University provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU.

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Have you ever found yourself thinking about loved ones during a boring meeting? Or going over the plot of a movie you recently watched during a drive to the supermarket?

This is the cognitive phenomenon known as “ mind wandering ”. Research suggests it can account for up to 50% of our waking cognition (our mental processes when awake) in both western and non-western societies .

So what can help make this time productive and beneficial?

Mind wandering is not daydreaming

Mind wandering is often used interchangeably with daydreaming. They are both considered types of inattention but are not the same thing.

Mind wandering is related to a primary task, such as reading a book, listening to a lecture, or attending a meeting. The mind withdraws from that task and focuses on internally generated, unrelated thoughts.

On the other hand, daydreaming does not involve a primary, active task. For example, daydreaming would be thinking about an ex-partner while travelling on a bus and gazing out the window. Or lying in bed and thinking about what it might be like to go on a holiday overseas.

If you were driving the bus or making the bed and your thoughts diverted from the primary task, this would be classed as mind wandering.

The benefits of mind wandering

Mind wandering is believed to play an important role in generating new ideas , conclusions or insights (also known as “aha! moments”). This is because it can give your mind a break and free it up to think more creatively.

This type of creativity does not always have to be related to creative pursuits (such as writing a song or making an artwork). It could include a new way to approach a university or school assignment or a project at work. Another benefit of mind wandering is relief from boredom, providing the opportunity to mentally retreat from a monotonous task.

For example, someone who does not enjoy washing dishes could think about their upcoming weekend plans while doing the chore. In this instance, mind wandering assists in “passing the time” during an uninteresting task.

Mind wandering also tends to be future-oriented. This can provide an opportunity to reflect upon and plan future goals, big or small. For example, what steps do I need to take to get a job after graduation? Or, what am I going to make for dinner tomorrow?

Read more: Alpha, beta, theta: what are brain states and brain waves? And can we control them?

What are the risks?

Mind wandering is not always beneficial, however. It can mean you miss out on crucial information. For example, there could be disruptions in learning if a student engages in mind wandering during a lesson that covers exam details. Or an important building block for learning.

Some tasks also require a lot of concentration in order to be safe. If you’re thinking about a recent argument with a partner while driving, you run the risk of having an accident.

That being said, it can be more difficult for some people to control their mind wandering. For example, mind wandering is more prevalent in people with ADHD.

Read more: How your brain decides what to think

What can you do to maximise the benefits?

There are several things you can do to maximise the benefits of mind wandering.

• be aware : awareness of mind wandering allows you to take note of and make use of any productive thoughts. Alternatively, if it is not a good time to mind wander it can help bring your attention back to the task at hand

context matters : try to keep mind wandering to non-demanding tasks rather than demanding tasks. Otherwise, mind wandering could be unproductive or unsafe. For example, try think about that big presentation during a car wash rather than when driving to and from the car wash

content matters : if possible, try to keep the content positive. Research has found , keeping your thoughts more positive, specific and concrete (and less about “you”), is associated with better wellbeing. For example, thinking about tasks to meet upcoming work deadlines could be more productive than ruminating about how you felt stressed or failed to meet past deadlines.

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ADD: Wandering Minds and Wired Bodies

Written by Ed Welch

Easily distracted or forgetful. Mouths, arms, hands, and legs that run ahead of thinking. Impulsive decisions, chronic difficulties meeting deadlines, mistaken notions of one’s own abilities… behaviors often associated with Attention Deficit Disorder.

What is ADD? What are the strengths and weaknesses of ADD children? What can be done about this puzzling disorder? Noting both the challenges and responsibilities of ADD children, Edward T. Welch clarifies the physical and spiritual dimensions of ADD. He offers parents—as well as adults who fit the profile—help, encouragement, and biblical wisdom on how to handle this condition.

Book Details

18 pages Publisher: P&R Publishing Publication Year: 2009

eBook Details

24 pages Publisher: New Growth Press Publication Year: 2011

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Wij weten als geen ander dat het leven met een Wandering Mind uitdagend kan zijn. Met of zonder label zoals AD(H)D of HSP, het leven met een uniek brein kan voelen als een constante zoektocht naar het vinden van de juiste weg en het ontdekken van wie je werkelijk bent. Maar weet je, juist deze uitdagingen maken jouw Wandering Mind zo uniek en krachtig. Je bent op de juiste plek gearriveerd. Wandering Minds is er namelijk om jou te helpen bij het navigeren van het leven. We bieden een bron van informatie en inspiratie vanuit de meest verrassende hoeken, om je te helpen de schoonheid en wonderen van jouw eigen brein te ontdekken. Wij geloven in het verkennen van nieuwe mogelijkheden en zijn daarom lekker eigenwijs. Dwaal rustig rond op onze website, laat je inspireren en voel je thuis. Sluit je aan bij onze community, waar je jezelf kunt zijn en je thuis voelt. Wij zijn dol op vrijheid, avontuur, persoonlijke ontwikkeling en verbinding. Ontdek met ons wat jouw unieke manier is om het leven te navigeren met een Wandering Mind. We’ve got you!

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NBC's fall schedule includes Reba McEntire's 'Happy's Place' and 'Brilliant Minds' drama

NBC has added three new series this fall, including two new comedies — the hospital mockumentary “St. Denis Medical" and Reba McEntire's sitcom return in "Happy's Place."

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“St. Denis Medical” stars Wendi McLendon-Covey, Allison Tolman and David Alan Grier as medical staff keeping their sanity at an understaffed Oregon hospital. The comedy will air Tuesday nights before "Night Court," which was renewed for Season 3 earlier this month.

Rookie drama "The Irrational," starring "Law & Order" and Broadway veteran Jesse L. Martin as a behavioral scientist working high-stakes cases, was renewed for its second season to complete the Tuesday night line-up.

NBC's third new series is the medical drama "Brilliant Minds," starring Zachary Quinto (Spock from the "Star Trek" movie franchise) as a neurologist working with his team exploring the last great frontier — the human mind — while also dealing with their own relationships and mental health. "Brilliant Minds" will air Monday nights after "The Voice."

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How U.S. safety regulators have struggled to get a grip on Tesla’s Autopilot

After fatal crashes, investigations and a massive recall, the government is still trying to keep pace with the risks on the road.

Carl Hunter was driving his Tesla Model S home on a highway northeast of Seattle last month. The Autopilot system was turned on and he was looking at his phone, Hunter later told police. He heard a bang as the vehicle lurched forward, ramming into a motorbike.

“I’m not sure how it happened,” Hunter said as he called 911 from the scene. “But I am freaking out.”

Jeffrey Nissen, the bike’s 28-year-old rider, was trapped under the Tesla, according to police. He died at the scene.

The crash happened four months after scrutiny by federal regulators led Tesla to recall more than 2 million cars to fix safety risks in the Autopilot system . The death added to the toll of at least 20 Tesla crashes under review since the recall , raising concerns not just about the effectiveness of Tesla’s fix, but also the adequacy of oversight by the nation’s auto safety regulator, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Critics say incidents like Nissen’s death show in stark terms how the agency is struggling to keep pace with risks introduced on American highways by Tesla’s driver-assistance system, as well as similar technology being advertised to consumers by other car manufacturers, from Ford to Mercedes.

Some say NHTSA has taken an overly deferential approach to industry in an era of profound automotive innovation, one that promises to make driving easier but creates new risks on the road. Nearly a decade since Tesla first rolled out Autopilot, the agency has yet to set basic standards for self-driving technology.

“Their risk-averse approach to regulation puts drivers at greater risk on the road,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who has long called for more safeguards for driver-assistance systems, said in an interview. “They live in fear of potential criticism or opposition, and that’s just no way for a regulator to view the world. The Elon Musks of the world are not going to just sit still.”

NHTSA has not made full use of its powers to protect the public, nor come to Congress asking for new powers to keep up with the rapidly evolving technology, he said.

The agency’s slow pace is compounded by its inability, under federal law, to act as a gatekeeper to protect U.S. motorists before new features with safety implications are sold in cars. Instead, it scrutinizes technology once safety hazards become apparent through crashes and deaths.

Unlike countries in Europe, meanwhile, the United States permits manufacturers to “self-certify” they are in compliance with basic safety standards.

The agency said in a statement that it was overseeing the new technology with the full range of its authority, including writing regulations, conducting research and taking enforcement action. “NHTSA is committed to protecting the public using all the authorities at its disposal,” the agency said.

Three days after Nissen’s April 19 death, an investigator from NHTSA asked the Washington State Patrol to let her see the vehicle, according to a state patrol investigative log released under a records request. By the end of the week, the agency disclosed it was opening a new investigation into Autopilot to review whether the changes made as part of the recall were sufficient.

The new investigation could empower NHTSA to impose fines and ultimately order Tesla to take specific actions to improve the safety of Autopilot. The company did not respond to questions about its interactions with regulators or the new investigation. Tesla has said the system improves safety by helping drivers avoid accidents.

The hazards of Tesla’s Autopilot have been known for years. The NHTSA investigation that prompted the recall in December involved a review of 467 crashes dating to early 2018, involving 14 deaths and dozens of injuries, according to a summary of the probe released last week. In more than 200 cases, the front of Tesla vehicles on Autopilot hit objects that in many instances investigators said an alert driver could have avoided.

NHTSA concluded that the system was not doing enough to keep drivers engaged and that the system suffered from a “critical safety gap.” But it took the agency two years to reach that conclusion, even as the crashes continued.

At the end last year, NHTSA presented its findings to Tesla. The automaker disputed some of them but agreed to the recall. In mid-December, the company announced that an update to the system, uploaded wirelessly into all 2 million cars, would provide drivers with additional alerts if their car detected that their attention was wandering.

Within days of the firmware update, a Tesla using Autopilot crashed in Pennsylvania.

The sequence of events highlights how Congress has limited NHTSA’s authority to review new features on cars before they are deployed. Instead, it relies on investigative powers once problems arise.

It sets minimum safety standards for vehicles, but such rulemaking takes years. And under the law, automakers certify their own compliance with the rules, rather than submitting new vehicle designs for review by regulators before they go on sale.

Regulators and the industry say self-certification encourages innovation, but as a result, automakers are mostly free to deploy self-driving systems without the okay from the federal government.

Rob Heilman, a former NHTSA and Transportation Department technology researcher, said that senior officials lack familiarity with automated systems and that the country was lacking federal leadership.

“Now you have technologies that are going out on the road and you are asking the public to take part in testing without their consent,” Heilman said.

What’s needed, experts say, is a more proactive approach that can set the ground rules for new technologies and head off problems in advance.

The Autopilot updates in the Tesla recall were not adequate , said Phil Koopman, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who studies vehicle technology. He said the agency should be clear with automakers about what it views as unacceptable risks in their designs.

“Tesla basically thumbed their nose at them,” Koopman said. “The question is how often do they have to go back and forth. NHTSA issues a recall, and the remedy is just a little hand wave. This could go on forever.”

In Europe, car designs are certified by authorities who review vehicles and technologies before they are sold. That has given regulators more power to control the deployment of driver-assistance systems.

In response to questions about how it is ensuring the safety of the new technologies, NHTSA pointed to several steps it has taken in recent years, including the Autopilot recall and a 2021 order that requires manufacturers to disclose details about crashes involving automation systems.

Congress this year approved funding for a new office at the agency with a staff of 10 who would consider rules to ensure safety, and NHTSA said a director of the office will start work Monday. Officials are also expected to soon release a proposal that could give them more oversight of fully automated vehicles. Officials this week issued a new standard for automated emergency brakes, a significant step toward harnessing new technology to improve safety, but the mandate won’t come into force until 2029.

Ann Carlson, who led NHTSA at the time of the Tesla recall, said the step was a major achievement for the agency.

“Sometimes NHTSA gets accused of not having the technological sophistication to deal with automated technology,” said Carlson, a UCLA law professor who ran the agency last year but whose nomination was withdrawn after opposition from Senate Republicans. “I think Tesla proves the opposite.”

NHTSA said this week that it was opening an investigation into Ford’s BlueCruise system after it was linked to two fatal crashes involving Mach-E electric vehicles in February and March. The National Transportation Safety Board — an independent investigative agency — is also investigating the crashes. Amy Mast, a spokeswoman for Ford, said the company was supporting NHTSA’s investigation.

Established by Congress in 1970, NHTSA is relatively small, employing a staff of about 750 with responsibilities for fuel economy standards and driver safety awareness campaigns, in addition to vehicle safety.

The agency has been beset by leadership turnover, having had a Senate-confirmed leader for just three months since 2017. It is being led temporarily by Deputy Administrator Sophie Shulman, with no new nominee for the top job in the pipeline. NHTSA declined to make Shulman available for an interview.

In the Trump era, agency leadership took a hands-off approach to self-driving technology. James Owens, who led NHTSA between 2019 and 2020, defended the agency’s cautious approach to regulating in a 2020 speech to a U.N. body that oversees vehicle safety .

“Every decision must be made based on sound science, data and transparency,” he said. “It is not our practice to issue a new regulation simply because it is believed it might have a safety benefit or because it might be expedient.”

Under Owens’s leadership NHTSA issued the first waiver for an autonomous delivery robot that did not comply with safety standards written with human drivers in mind. Owens, who is now the chief legal officer at the company Nuro, declined a request for comment.

In the Biden administration, officials have outlined an approach that would involve the manufacturers of autonomous vehicles sharing more data with the government — a step that could make it easier for government engineers to identify safety risks. It has yet to formally propose the rules, however, after announcing the plan last summer.

And even when it does pursue new rules, NHTSA requires seven to 10 years to finalize the standards, according to the Government Accountability Office in a report this year .

In some cases, the calls for stronger oversight go back years.

On a Saturday afternoon in May 2016, a Tesla using Autopilot crashed into a the trailer of a semi-truck in Williston, Fla. — shearing the roof off the car and killing the driver. The NTSB launched an investigation and recommended the following year that NHTSA work toward verifying that driver-assistance systems could only be activated in conditions they were designed for.

But NHTSA said setting such a requirement is out of reach, telling the safety board in 2020 that it “found this goal to be complex, resource-intensive, potentially impractical, and unlikely to result in changes in available technologies.”

A year later, the NTSB stamped the response as “unacceptable.”

Eight years after that Florida crash, self-driving options continue to outpace government rules. NHTSA advises drivers that “every vehicle currently for sale in the United States requires the full attention of the driver at all times for safe operation.”

In their TV commercials, automakers emphasize how driver assistance can alleviate the stress and boredom of being behind the wheel.

A recent ad for Ford’s system shows a mom taking her hands off the steering wheel of a Mach-E to talk to her son in sign language. A Mercedes commercial shows a man taking his eyes off the road to watch televised golf, using a higher-level system available on a limited number of roads in California and Nevada. Chevrolet touts the benefits of hands-free towing , pulling ATVs for a day in the mountains: “It’ll help you get to the adventure energized, and it will help drive you home.”

Mercedes said its system was approved by officials in California and Nevada, and relies on multiple sensors and redundant systems for safety. Aimee Ridella, a GM spokeswoman, said its Super Cruise system is marketed as offering convenience. Drivers are monitored by camera to ensure they are paying attention, and the vehicles will eventually stop if the driver is not engaged.

In March, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a research group, graded 14 systems offered by nine automakers, including Tesla. It ranked 11 of the systems as performing poorly on tests designed to measure how well they monitor whether drivers remain engaged.

Missy Cummings, a professor at George Mason University who served as an adviser to NHTSA’s leaders, said the findings add to evidence that it’s time for the government to regulate driver-assistance systems, curbing their use to predetermined situations , such as limited-access freeways.

“It’s very clear how to do it,” Cummings said. “The companies know how to do it. The technology exists. There’s no magic here.”

The question, Cummings said, is “how much does a regulatory agency have to regulate, as opposed to how much influence do companies have to make regulatory agencies do what they want them to do?”

It now largely falls to state and local authorities to deal with the consequences of crashes involving drive-assistance technology.

In Washington, state troopers responded to the scene of Nissen’s death. In the aftermath of the crash, his damaged bike lay on the road beside the Tesla as police worked to divert traffic. A trooper described in his report how he retrieved a yellow blanket to cover the body.

Police took Hunter, the Tesla driver into custody, jailing him on a vehicular homicide charge under existing distracted driving laws. Hunter did not respond to a request for comment.

Chris Loftis, a state patrol spokesman, said in an email that no matter what features a vehicle is equipped with, “the driver is ALWAYS responsible to operate the vehicle in a safe and legal manner.”

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