A few weeks ago, I caught the end of an interview on how a wandering mind can lead to unhappiness. I always thought that daydreamers were blissful, content in their own world. It turns out that when our minds go somewhere else, it is not to a tropical island to escape the reality of a never-ending winter. It is to the grocery list, to carpool plans, to a dentist appointment, which now conflicts with the meeting you just scheduled.
Matt Killngsworth's TED Talk lays it all out in around five minutes. Check it out. According to his data (gathered via an app), our minds wander 47% of the time.
First, that's a lot of time, mostly wasted. Second, if mind-wandering makes us unhappy, think of the repercussions.
Yeah, meditation is how I am trying to combat the never-ending call of the grocery list. I figure it's that or start taking really good drugs so my daydreaming will de facto be of a high caliber (In Xanadu did Kublai Kahn, etc. etc).
ReplyDeleteMy mind is too wild, and I am not focused/disciplined enough to meditate. I think the key for me is time. Right now I don't have enough to compartmentalize and have to do everything at once, leading to frustration, anger, and yes, unhappiness. Thanks for the comment.
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