A wandering mind tends to be an unhappier one
Phone check-ins showed people's minds drift from what they're doing almost as often as not, and drifting tends to come with lower mood.
People's minds drift away from what they are doing almost as often as not, and drifting tends to come with a lower mood.
The study
The researchers used a smartphone app to ask people, at moments through their day, what they were doing, thinking, and feeling. They found that people thought about something other than what they were doing almost as often as they thought about the task at hand. Mind-wandering typically went with feeling less happy.
Starting small
Bringing attention back to what you are doing, even for a few minutes, is a small practice. Paying full attention to one routine task, like making coffee or a short walk, is one way to try it.