Before addressing the question, “Is daydreaming good or bad?”, let’s first understand how this phenomenon actually works.
What is daydreaming?
There are certain things, desires and fantasies in every person’s life which he/she has not completed so far but want to complete in the near future. These desires and dreams stay in our inner world all the time.
Things which we could not do due to lack of money, time, enthusiasm or courage; we like to dream about them with open eyes.
People have certain issues which they want to get rid of ASAP. They swirl all the time in mind. While in bed, driving, working etc. These could be money based, physical and mental health, work related, relationships etc.
All in all, a blend of desires and problems keep mind running most time of the day.
Whenever a person gets some free time or is indulged in a less important task, then there are chances that he/she starts dreaming about his/her desires, fantasies or problems. This is known as daydreaming.
It is when we dream while awake, specifically it is a position between actual sleep and awake. And there are bright chances of him or her (the one who is daydreaming) being surrounded by people also.
Difference between daydreaming and overthinking
As mentioned earlier in the article daydreaming is a process that runs for a short period of time; the leisure time we get in between daily important tasks. But as soon as it needs to be focused on the work again, that dream vanishes instantly and focus spontaneously returns to the task.
If done moderately and dreamt about some actual life situation (not about some childish fantasy of conquering the world or helping avengers in fighting Thanos), it’s helpful in many ways (that will be discussed later).
The amazing fact about daydreaming that has been found after much research is that, about 30 to 47 percent of an average person’s awake time is spent while dreaming about the things which he/she has thirst for but has not gotten/achieved yet.
Overthinking is a different way of using mind’s energy in a very terrible way, depending upon the thoughts a person is having. People who think a lot about some past event especially regretting about something, shame or guilt, are into overthinking.
Thinking too much (for longer span) about any future event that it starts making a person intimidated about that event, is also another form of overthinking.
Especially thinking too much about the negative side of anything does also count as overthinking. Thinking excessively about anything ultimately leads to negativity; without even having some concrete proof our mind starts believing these negative beliefs.
That is why it is very important that a person should be aware of this difference between Daydreaming and Overthinking. Knowing this difference would make a huge change in a person’s life and specially thought process. While one helps a person in daily life situations and achieve his goals, others can make life a living hell.
Great scientists, poets, saints would think a lot; if they didn’t, how would they have discovered gravity and electricity. That didn’t make them an overthinker. On the contrary they could invent many life-saving drugs, gadgets etc.
They knew how to think, what to think about and what not to.
Default Mode Network
Research has shown that our brain, when we are in no work situation, goes into a default mode without even letting us know, not giving any prior signal at all. This default mode network is mostly (not completely) responsible for daydreaming. This mode gets activated automatically as we are idle and lasts up to sometime depending upon the person; when he realizes that he is roaming in his wandering thoughts.
So, is it harmful for our mental wellbeing?
Now the main questions arise –
- Is daydreaming good or bad?
- Is it normal to have such dreams with open eyes?
- Is it a waste of time and energy?
- The question is whether these actions turn a person into a nincompoop in front of others.
- While doing so are we lagging behind in this competitive world as others are continuously working on something new and practical.
And many more like them.
The answer to all these questions lies in
- Content
- Time interval
- Place.
(These are discussed in more detail below.)
An amazing fact is that mostly all great inventors in the world were once moderate daydreamers. This helped them discover solutions to some major problems which were once felt impossible to work out.
There are many experiments conducted on the brain’s reactions while it ruminates. The results are quite surprising.
A group of people when supervised with necessary medical equipment. These people were asked to dream freely. It was found that their brains emitted different kinds of waves depending upon the thoughts and dreams they were having.
Most of them had thoughts about struggles with their bosses, spouse or about their hectic work life. Little disputes that are converted into big deals just by overestimating them in their own thought process. Mostly negative thoughts were the outcomes.
Some of them had thoughts of some pleasant place, incident, person etc. These are called freely moving thoughts. The waves emitted by the brains in the latter case were alpha waves. Studies have shown that when the brain has alpha movement, it performs smarter in doing creative tasks.
Content –
Prior research about what kind of the ideas and thoughts often come in mind while rumination, is surely a clever move. Having fine observing eyes and mind lead to less confused life.
Budha said “Mind is everything. What you think, you become”. That suggests us to think positive and act positive. Not denying the fact that staying positive is not that easy nowadays. But a little improvement is better than nothing at all.
When we dream about something that is pleasure giving, it is fine. When we dream about a problem in life then we can find a solution to it, it is also fine. But if content is mostly sexual, violence, movie (watched lately) etc. based; then content needs a clean out.
The moment we realize that our daydream is going the wrong way, try discontinuing it. Doing that over and over will eventually stop those thoughts to bother us anymore.
Time Interval -
When stressed and burned out, a nap or a short period of rumination (daydreaming) can be helpful to soothe things out, but continuing it for long spans might show repercussions.
As discussed above, if any thought/idea is given too much of attention while not being worked upon, then its negative aspects are inexorable. It is also advisable to dream about desires, that will surely make us feel better.
If we are performing an experiment, then considering its negative outcomes is a good thing. But thinking too much about the negative outcomes of daily events will not make things any better.
Place –
We might have seen that kind of person in a group or family, which asks the same question again and again “what you just said/what did you just say/ what you just say”. Chances are bright that he/she has less focus or is daydreaming.
Sitting among family at home or with friends; with colleagues at work and simultaneously dreaming about the villa you want to purchase, surely questions your communication and listening skills. The time we spend with family and friends is priceless, so it’s better we remain right there physically and mentally.
Maladaptive Daydreaming
If you are a moderate daydreamer (common behavior) then its fine. Even so ask this question from yourself – “Is your daydreaming gatecrashes most of the time of the day?” or “Do your daydreams obstruct your daily life”. If the answer is “yes” or somewhat near to “yes”, then knowing about this condition is essential for you.
In maladaptive daydreaming dreams last for long span of time, lasting for even one hour. According to experts in this condition people start having real life feelings in dreams which hampers their daily social life.
It is also advisable to frequent daydreamers, that they should know the difference between maladaptive daydreaming and normal daydreaming. If this day rumination stays for longer durations throughout the day, then it is likely to change in maladaptive daydreaming.
CONCLUSION
Dreaming about our goals in life is easy and really satisfying. But they can’t be achieved if we dream a lot and work less. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote that “What is not started today is never finished tomorrow”. Message is clear – if we want to achieve something good in life, we need to work towards it. Working more and dreaming less is the mantra.
Whenever we start something new, scrutinizing is a good thing to do prior to kicking off. It always results in a positive outcome. If we use daydreaming in a wise way, it can be a cause for many satisfactory fortunes in life. If we get stuck in some trouble or complication, daydreaming could help us find options to handle that situation. In addition to that it helps in understanding the problem on a profound level.
Creativity has direct proportionality with wise daydreaming. Thinking about different aspects of a task can come up with different options to perform and in an advanced way.
Last but not least it is very helpful in these days of high workload scenarios. In times of exhaustion and hassle a short rumination about the desires can be really joyful. It could lead us from web of stress to an open sky filled with bliss without costing anything at all.