Dream On, Dreamer

Feeling guilty fantasising about your upcoming holiday during a meeting?

Don’t be. A 2007 study by the University of North Carolina found that our minds fully drift away from a given task about onethird of the time. This suggests that daydreaming is actually a useful brain function because, if it were bad for us, we wouldn’t be doing it so often. In fact, we gain a lot of deep insights when we least expect it (think of Archimedes and his “Eureka!” moment in the bathtub). So, the next time you’re letting your mind wander, remember that you’re engaging in deep, creative processing – and enjoy the ride.