Science Extolls the Benefits of Daydreaming

Have you ever felt a spark of inspiration while spacing out in the shower? Or stepped away from your desk for a few minutes to clear your mind and came back refreshed and ready to work? 

These relatable experiences aren’t just coincidence. According to Earth.com, daydreaming is linked to increased memory, creativity, and problem solving. In other words, it may not be a waste of time at all, rather, it might be your brain’s way of working smarter.

Boosts Understanding and Perception
The benefits of daydreaming are borne out by science. In a Harvard Medical School study, published in Nature, researchers induced a group of lab mice to imagine a flash of light that they’d seen previously. 

When the research team compared the brain patterns of the mice when seeing the light and when dreaming about the light, they found that the patterns were not identical at all. The brain wave patterns that lit up when mice “relived” the experience in their imaginations were linked to learning and visual processing areas of the brain. 

The study, Earth.com explained, suggests that imagination boosts understanding and perception.

Helps With Pattern Recognition
This perception boost may have real world benefits for the daydreamers both human and mice. StudyFinds shared that daydreamers perceive hidden patterns more readily than those focusing on the task at hand.

Participants in a study from Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary, published in The Journal of Neuroscience, were given a specialized computer task that allowed them to zone out and measure their ability to unconsciously pick up on patterns. An EEG tracked their brain activity during the task.

The research found that, although daydreamers made more errors, they did better on unconscious pattern recognition. This benefit was more pronounced when participants were accidentally or unintentionally daydreaming.

Fosters Creativity, Imagination, and Problem Solving
Daydreaming is also linked to increased creativity and problem solving, according to Earth.com. When asked to list novel ways to use a brick, people who spaced out beforehand were able to think of many more creative answers than those who did not. 

These results might be explained by brain scans of daydreamers that showed connections forming between the brain’s planning system and the memory and imagination sections. The mind’s ability to link memory, creativity, and planning during a “space-out session” suggests that daydreaming is ideal for sparking ideas and connecting current challenges to prior experiences.

Why People Daydream
The average person spends an incredible amount of time daydreaming. Nearly half of one’s waking hours may be consumed with this activity — more time than allotted to any other waking activities. Although this seems like a lot of wasted hours, brain activity during daydreams suggests that the mind utilizes these opportunities to shuttle memories to long-term storage — a process that typically takes place during sleep time. 

In fact, Study Finds suggests that brain waves of daydreamers were similar to those of night sleepers. One possibility is that daydreaming functions like a mini-sleep, allowing the formation of long-term memories, on the go — no pillow needed. 

So the next time your mind wanders in the shower, on a walk, or even in the middle of a boring meeting, don’t be so quick to pull it back. Daydreaming isn’t wasted time. Rather, it’s your brain strengthening memory, spotting hidden patterns, and sparking new ideas. In fact, it may be one of the simplest, most natural ways to refresh your mind and fuel creativity.