Talking About Daydreaming
All our lives we are told to focus, concentrate and stay on the task. This is definitely a good advice and, those who follow it, probably feel they are very responsible and even successful people. And perhaps they are.
However, keeping our ‘heads down’ throughout the entire school or workday is, if not impossible, an extremely hard task to achieve. Our brains need some break, and daydreaming is one of the ‘mechanisms’ it uses. Although of course we can dismiss or ignore any thoughts, in the long run this is likely to create internal pressure that may lead to building up stress and anxiety which, in turn, will have an impact on our general wellbeing.
What are daydreams and what is their role?
Daydreaming is an integral component of our mental process. In fact, quite a healthy one as it helps us to relax and stimulates our creativity. They take the form of mental pictures that we use to 'escape' from certain situations, for example to overcome a frustrating experience. It is a ‘tool’ our mind puts at our disposal to allow us to take some ‘time off’ from the task. This process assists us in refreshing ourselves, regaining energy and becoming more efficient when we ‘return’ and refocus on the task at hand.
Its role is to help us building up ‘mental maps’ in which we can, in a healthy way, visualize situations that occurred in the past, that are currently happening and/or we believe may arise in the future.
It is worth mentioning the fact that this is something that happens to all of us, whether we want it or not, and that there is no specific time of the day or place for this to occur. Thoughts come and go continuously through our minds, and there is nothing we can do about it. In the process, we tend to look for, and frequently discover, new internal resources that make us feel good about ourselves, more often than not increasing or positively reinforcing our levels of self-esteem.
How does daydreaming help us?
In some cases, it helps us exploring situations with the advantage that can do so without feeling limited by the need to set boundaries. In other words, we allow ourselves to give free reins to our imagination, to see things from different perspectives and to play with alternative scenarios and outcomes. It is like having a self-to-self conversation. This process may help us to better understand situations that occurred in the past which we want to learn from and improve, challenge our current circumstances in order to deal with these in a different, perhaps more effective way, and also to think about future ones in order to lay out plans to implment and manage the one we consider to be the most appropriate for us.
Research states that when people daydream and imagine possible (and plausible) types of future, they can actually become happier as this 'activity' provides them with the motivation to innovate, find opportunities to advance and give the benefit of the doubt to that classic saying 'what the mind can conceive, the body can achieve'.
Can it help with other aspects of my life?
Yes, indeed. It has been proven that daydreaming can boost productivity. As we let our minds wander, we open a space to imagine and create, challenge and/or explore situations from different points of view, all of which contribute towards finding the best course of action to achieve our goals. The fact that we ‘have’ to live with this ‘intruding mechanism’ is not a bad thing at all since it very often provides the key to inspiring us in dealing with, and solving, problems.
The happiness and can-do attitude brought about by daydreaming has the power to relieve stress and also help us physically. Nowadays, we tend to look at the human being as a complex interaction between mind, body and soul. In general, if there is a positive mental 
attitude the body is better prepared to deal with physical distress. On the other hand, if there is a negative attitude, both mind and body are more exposed to external influences.
Is daydreaming a good or a bad thing?
Like everything in life, there are two sides to a coin. On the one hand, if our daydreaming is about needs and wants we believe will help us taking a step forward, say in improving our relationships, career advancement, refocusing our activities or simply setting us off to a fresh start, then the process is a positive one. Whether the dreams materialize or not is a different story, but at least you will most likely have enjoyed the ‘ride’.
On the contrary, if we start and get stuck visualizing situations or scenarios where most of what we ‘see’ relates to rage, aggression, grudge and revenge, even if not extreme, then we need to pay close attention to this as it may well be a warning sign. These repeated negative thoughts and elaboration of the same are not healthy inasmuch as they can increase stress levels, weaken our ability to contain ourselves and lose perspective.
Sometimes daydreaming may become an issue because it can turn into an obsessive characteristic that could interfere with a person’s daily functioning. A situation like this usually relates with the development of a mental condition which, if not treated, may have negative impact on relationships at home and/or at work, with friends and other loved ones. A ’mental condition’, in this context, does not necessarily mean that it is a serious one, as it may well be the case that they are just going though a difficult phase. With timely professional support and their own effort put to work and overcome the issues, this can be dealt with positively and within a ‘reasonable’ period of time.
To daydream or not daydream…. that is the question
One of the most wonderful things that can happen to us, as human beings, is the ability to think and, perhaps, build in our minds a ‘little earthly paradise’ that provides hope.
The best-case scenario would be a positive outcome whereby all, or most, of the things we elaborated upon in our minds, together with the actions we took in respect of the ‘plan’, led to a successful conclusion. On the other hand, if most of the ‘what will I...’, ‘how will I....’ and ‘what ifs’ we went through over and over in our heads did not work in practice, could be thought as a failure. But it is NOT. Hope is always present. The fact that things did not work for us the first time round can be an opportunity for us to learn from such experience and, most likely, incorporate this wisdom in the next ‘dreaming journey’.
So, YES, do take your daydreaming process as a means to free yourself from some stress (thinking about positive things), and gather the necessary energy to motivate yourself to fulfill the task at hand the best you can.
