Finding time to sit and let the mind wander might be challenging given our hectic lifestyles.
But it’s worth a go since, according to study, you might find that daydreaming is more enjoyable than you think.
We frequently underestimate how interesting just sitting and thinking can be, according to a research.
259 participants were gathered for two investigations by a group of researchers, including those from the University of Reading.
Before being instructed to sit in a room for 20 minutes with no outside stimulation in the first experiment, participants were informed that they were a part of a study monitoring their mental processes.
Prior to the job, students were asked to predict how engaged or bored they would feel while waiting and if they would enjoy it. After the 20 minutes, they evaluated their actual experience.
Results revealed that participants had reduced boredom while waiting and greater involvement and curiosity.
In the following experiment, participants were asked which situation they would prefer—”thinking-only” or “news-checking”—and why.
Most people believed that reading the news on their phone would be more entertaining and interesting.
The news readers relished their experience as much as they anticipated after being divided into groups to experience both venues.
The thinking group, however, fared better than anticipated.
These findings “indicate an inherent difficulty in appropriately assessing how interesting just thinking may be, and could explain why people prefer to keep themselves busy, rather than taking a time for introspection,” the authors wrote in the Journal of Experimental Psychology.