Mind Wandering in Daily Life Study

FAQS

Who was in this study? Working adults ages 25 - 50 who lived and worked in the United States during the period of January - April, 2022. Their locations were confirmed, with their permission, using their phone GPS.

How much time did it take to do this study? DAY 1: ONBOARDING: 2-3 minutes DAYS 2-6: MIND WANDERING QUICK SURVEYS: 1-minute per notification, 6 notifications per day = 6 minutes per day. If you want to complete the study for the $10 Amazon e-card, you submitted 20 out of 30 1-minute surveys.

What 8 quick questions were asked about mind wandering? 1. when notified, I was mind wandering? yes or no. 2. open to mind wandering or thoughts popped up? 3. was mostly about day-to-day or other choices? 4. thoughts related to work, children, or other choices? 5. mostly about past, present, or other choices? 6. related to work, children, or other choices? 7. what I was doing? 8. how I was feeling? 9. any comments I want to add about the experience. HIT DONE!

Why does it matter if someone is mind wandering or not? Mind wandering is common and normal for each of us. We need some mind wandering in our lives. Many studies report that we mind than 30%-50% of our waking hours. Even though that seems like a lot and you might be thinking, whoa, that is totally off-task thinking…..imagine that you only thought about the thing in front of you! Imagine that you couldn’t think about the past or the future because these were beyond the task at hand! Our minds evolved to mind wander, and mind wandering is a source of how we connect with other people, times, places, ideas, concerns, all of it. This study learned about the ways we mind wander because these findings help us understand the benefits as well as the interruptions we experience when we mind wander.