Episode Details

Daydreaming has a bad reputation – we say things like "he's away with the fairies" or "she has herhead in the clouds" implying these people are inattentive, easily distracted, maybe even lazy. Is this reputation justified? Or is a trip to la-la land actually something that might benefit us?

白日梦的名声很差——我们说“他和仙女在一起了”或“她的头在云端”，暗示这些人注意力不集中、容易分心，甚至可能很懒。 这种声誉是否合理？ 或者说去la-la land旅行实际上可能对我们有益？

First, it's important to differentiate daydreaming from mind wandering. Mind wandering happens when you're busy with a task and your mind disengages from it, whereas daydreaming happens when you're doing nothing and spontaneous thoughts unrelated to your surroundings pop up. In a review of research called 'The costs and benefits of mind-wandering', the authors found mind wandering negatively impacted reading comprehension, attention, memory and intelligence. None of that sounds great, so are there any benefits at all?

首先，区分白日梦和走神很重要。 当你忙于一项任务而你的思绪脱离它时，就会发生走神，而当你无所事事并且与周围环境无关的自发想法突然出现时，就会发生白日梦。 在一项名为“走神的成本和好处”的研究综述中，作者发现走神会对阅读理解、注意力、记忆力和智力产生负面影响。 这些听起来都不太好，那么有什么好处吗？

Activities that allow your mind to wander, like having a bath or meditating can lead to the 'aha' moment that you've been waiting for, which is why people often say they have their best ideas in the shower. This might work in the workplace too. In a 2021 study called 'Zoning out or breaking through? Linking daydreaming to creativity in the workplace', the authors concluded that "daydreaming carries noteworthy benefits for creativity". In other words, daydreaming at work may help you to come up with solutions to your problems.  It's also suggested that daydreaming can provide a sort of mental escape, both from the difficulty of the task, but also from the stresses of everyday life.

让你的思绪飘逸的活动，比如洗澡或冥想，可以让你得到一直在等待的“顿悟”时刻，这就是为什么人们经常说他们在淋浴时想到了最好的想法。 这在工作场所也可能有效。 在 2021 年一项名为“分区还是突破？”的研究中 作者将白日梦与工作场所的创造力联系起来，得出结论：“白日梦对创造力具有显着的好处”。 换句话说，工作中的白日梦可能会帮助你找到问题的解决方案。  还有人认为，白日梦可以提供一种精神上的逃避，既可以逃避任务的困难，也可以逃避日常生活的压力。

So, it seems daydreaming might be a bit of a double-edged sword, and the extent to which it provides benefits rather than downsides depends on things like how positive the thoughts are as well as your ability to identify and control them. If you find yourself endlessly staring into space, pondering the meaning of life while you're trying to get things done, why not try a mindfulness technique?

因此，白日梦似乎是一把