Mission & Academics Blog
Let Your Mind Wander...After You Read This
Why do we find ourselves struggling at times to stay focused for extended periods of time? Why do we feel lost when we misplace our phones? Are these two things connected? Currently, I am reading a book with a large group of teachers, entitled Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention and How to Think Deeply Again, by Johann Hari. It is an interesting read. I recommend it and am excited to participate in a lively discussion with my colleagues in the coming weeks. It is really making me think about our habits and behaviors.
Hari offers 12 reasons why we struggle to focus deeply and at length. As we all may have guessed, our extensive use of technology, especially our phones, is one of his causes.
However, one of Hari’s 12 causes caught me by surprise - the Disruption of Mind Wandering. I mean WHAT? Mind wandering? Is that a good thing? I am a teacher at heart and I wonder now, after all these years of teaching, how many times I have cautioned a student about mind wandering? How many times have I said, “Stop daydreaming!”? I have to admit that the chapter title surprised me. Is he suggesting we should all let our minds wander at times. Yes. Yes, he is. He asks that we think of focus as a spotlight directed carefully on the topic, book, or task at hand. We all want to be able to keep that spotlight on for a good period of time. However, Hari goes on to explain that we cannot always keep our spotlight focused on something. We need to be okay letting our minds wander. For example, we can take a walk without listening to a podcast sometimes. We can go for a long car drive and just idly daydream. We don’t always need to make phone calls, listen to Audible, etc. Sure, those things are great, fine, even enjoyable – but the author stresses that turning off our spotlight sometimes is more than just okay – it is really important and necessary for organizing our thoughts and goals, coming to important decisions, even being creative. He explains that creativity is not about coming up with something new out of nowhere…it is connecting two or more things you already knew in a brand new way. We need mind wandering for that kind of work to take place. Remarkable! In our intense and driving world today, we can feel that every moment should be used productively. Perhaps we need to come to see that letting our thoughts wander is a valuable and positive use of our time. (P.S. Maybe don’t tell your teenagers just yet. ;-) )
