I caught myself daydreaming again. Just staring out the window letting my mind wander wherever it wanted to go.
Used to do this all the time as a kid. Hours of it. Sitting in class. Laying in bed. Looking out the car window on long drives. My brain would just take off and go somewhere else entirely.
Then I grew up and got busy with work, family and responsibilities. No time for wandering thoughts. Always something demanding my attention. Daydreaming became a luxury I couldn't afford.
Now I'm retired and it's back.
Mostly happens in the afternoons. After a nap. That weird half-awake state where your brain isn't fully online yet. Thoughts just drift with no agenda or direction. Just wandering thoughts.
I daydream about a hodge podge of stuff. The past. Decisions I made. Roads not taken. The present. What I'm working on. What needs to get done. The future. Where things are heading. What I want to accomplish before I take a dirt nap. And random stuff that makes no sense at all. Bits and pieces of nothing stitched together.
Here's the thing though. It's getting kind of bad. Almost as bad as my brain fog now. I'll be reading or studying and catch myself wandering off. Eyes still on the page but the brain is somewhere else entirely. Then I have to go back and reread the same paragraph because nothing stuck.
I've been told I might be ADHD. Don't know about that. Maybe it's just how my brain is wired these days. Sometimes it's productive. It allows me to work through a problem without trying. Ideas show up when not forcing them. Sometimes it's just a distraction. Twenty minutes gone and nothing to show for it except a cold cup of coffee and a book I haven't made any progress on.
I don't fight it anymore and just try to work with it. Study when I'm sharp and let the mind wander when it's going to wander anyway.
Do you daydream? Does your brain wander off when it shouldn't?
Thanks for reading,
Joe
Notes:
-All content is mine unless otherwise annotated.
-Images are my own unless otherwise noted.
-Photos edited using MS Paint and/or iPhone SE.
-Page Dividers from The Terminal Discord.
If I'm not focused on something, then my mind is wandering and thinking of other things. I know I have ADHD, and fortunately my brain at least shuts off enough at night to let me sleep.
If it is ADHD, it's very handy for when you're problem solving. You can use it to focus on an issue at a level others can't.
!BBH
!PIZZA
!ALIVE
Well, if I am, it has done me well so far. As I usually was laser focused on things when I was working. Now that I am retired there is more time on my hands. Thus more time for the mind to wander.
Daydreaming by itself isn't too bad. It's just your brain stretching. You commented about this on my Zen post, so from a Zen perspective we'd say the daydreaming is your monkey mind. Everyone has the same. The Zen solution is to stop engaging with it. When it brings up the past or the future or tries to engage with you about regrets and dreams, just ignore it. Don't get upset or yell at yourself. The monkey mind is not you. The mind is an organ just like the liver or heart. You don't confuse yourself with your liver, so don't confuse yourself with your mind. The mind has crazy thoughts, just like the heart pumps blood — that's it's job. So let it do its job, just learn to ignore it. A good first step is when you catch yourself engaging with the monkey and having these daydreams, just gently bring yourself back to reality. That's all.
I don't know. I don't want to say too much or tell you what to do. If you are interested in hearing more on the Zen approach, let me know, and I could tell more.
Sounds very much like what my therapist and leader of meditation tells me. Keep your mind in the present and focus on your breathing when the daydreaming or bad thoughts come.
Much the same here even when driving the rig. It takes real effort to stay focused on the task at hand. And that task is...
Trying not to die is an important task. You really don't want to botch that one up.
These kids they are putting in the big rigs and the illegals also.
They think there is a respawn/restart button on the video game of life they are zombie walking thru.
My brain wanders off, every minute, im always distracted, always thinking about something else, while thinking about something else. My brain is a puzzle and i dare say im definitely a deep thinker and a day dreamer. It used to happen alot more when i was younger but now i have more activities to do that i dont really day dream like i used to
I would love to be a deep thinker when my mind wanders. But it is just pointless daydreaming. I think all our brains are puzzles. You are not alone.
$PIZZA slices delivered:
@bulliontools(8/20) tipped @coinjoe
Please vote for pizza.witness!
Congratulations @coinjoe! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain And have been rewarded with New badge(s)
Your next target is to reach 6750 replies.
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOP