Why Daydreaming Can Improve Your Mental Health[1]
How many times do you catch your mind wandering when you’re plodding through your day’s activities? As you slip into reverie, for example, do you see yourself relaxing at your favorite beach resort? How about imagining the big event you’re attending next weekend? Are you starting to think about who you’re going to see there, and what you’ll wear? After a few seconds, you snap back to attention and focus your mind back on what you’re supposed to be doing. Perhaps you were in the middle of a meeting and realize that everyone is waiting for your answer to a question posed to the group. It’s also possible that you were trying to finish a repetitive task on your desktop, and while clicking through an endless number of cut and paste operations, you started to time travel back to the weekend before. Maybe you've just gone to the gym for an hour and spent most of the time thinking about a problem in your relationship.
當你一整天埋頭苦幹時，有多少次你會發現自己正在恍神？像是當你陷入幻想時，你是否會想像自己在最愛的海灘度假勝地上放鬆身心呢？還是想像下周末要做的大事呢？你是否會想著你會在那裡看到誰，還有你會穿什麼衣服呢？然後過了幾秒鐘，你會回過神來，把注意力放回你現在應該做的事情上。也許你正在開會，然後發現所有人都在等著你回答提出的問題。也有可能你正在處理桌上一些重複的工作，然後在無止境的點擊剪下與貼上的動作時，開始回想上個周末所發生的事。也許你剛去了健身房一個小時，然後把大部分的時間都花在思考感情上遇到的問題。
The effects of daydreaming or mind-wandering are generally thought of as negative. When attention is diverted, you’re more likely to make a mistake, and while driving, you certainly do need to focus all of your senses on what’s going on around you. Apart from all the other potential hazards that can come from distracted driving due to cell phones, GPS, and even the car radio, drifting off into oblivion should certainly rank high on that list of dangers. At work, though, or while involved in your household routines, is it really all that bad to retreat into your thoughts, if only for a moment?
通常會認為白日夢或是心智游移的影響是不好的。當分散注意力時，你將更容易犯錯，而在開車時，你絕對需要將所有的感官集中在眼前正在發生的事情上。除了其他潛在的危險像是由手機、GPS、甚至是車上收音機所造成的分心駕駛之外，進入恍神狀態這件事絕對得在這張危險清單中位居高位。但是，在工作中，或是在做家務的時候，若只是片刻的沉浸在思維之中，真的有那麼糟嗎？
Georgia Institute of Technology’s Kelsey Merlo and colleagues (2019) decided to take a new approach to studying the age-old question of why people daydream, and what effects daydreaming can have on people’s productivity. The authors note that despite how common it is to think about something other than what you’re doing (they claim that perhaps as many as half of all waking moments), the work and organizational psychology literature virtually ignores the phenomenon altogether. Most studies of daydreaming have a cognitive focus or pin the activity down to the brain’s “default working network,” which produces internally-generated activity. As in that example from the gym, your mind dissociates relatively easily when you're involved in automatic activities. This is when the default working network has allows you to split your consciousness.
喬治亞理工學院的凱西梅洛和她的同事們(2009)採用一種新的方法來研究為什麼人類會作白日夢這個存在已久的問題，以及作白日夢對人類的生產力有什麼樣的影響。作者指出，儘管我們常常會在做一件事情的時候卻想著和這件事無關的其他事情（他們稱可能高達一半清醒的時刻都是如此），但是各種心理學文獻卻幾乎可以說是完全忽略了此一現象。大多數有關白日夢的研究都會關注在認知上或將重點放在大腦中產生內部生成活動的「預設工作網絡」上。就像那個在健身房的例子，當你做的是大腦能無意識中作出來的動作，你的意識就相對地容易分離開來。此時是預設工作網絡讓你將意識分裂開來的時候。
Other terms refer to daydreaming in a more negative light, noting its repetitive nature in the form of rumination or worry. From the standpoint of the Georgia Tech researchers, mind-wandering or daydreaming can be defined as being stimulus-independent, in that the content of the thoughts are not a reflection of sensory input or related to the task being performed at the moment. Such thoughts can be fanciful, such as imagining yourself winning the lottery, or pragmatic, as in planning what to make for dinner. They can be related to work, as when you try to plan out your schedule for the day, and they can be triggered by stimuli such as the phone ringing, which reminds you that you have an important call coming up later in the day.
其他與白日夢有關的說法則更為負面，提到白日夢會一再重複的特點，就是它會在腦中不斷重複思索或擔憂。從喬治亞理工學院研究人員的角度來看，會把心智游移或白日夢定義為獨立於刺激以外的行為，這是指思考的內容並非是根據傳入的訊息來做出反應或與當前正在從事的工作有關。這種思考可能像是幻想自己中了樂透一般的空想，或是更務實面的像是計劃晚餐要做什麼。它們可以與工作有關，像是當你要安排當天的行程一樣；它們也可以藉由刺激來觸發，像是電話鈴聲會提醒你之後有一個重要的電話要接。
The comprehensive study conducted by Merlo and her associates took a person-centered approach in which participants provided, in their own words, the causes of their daydreaming, the content of their daydreams, and the results they felt followed from the mind-wandering interlude. The authors focused, as they stated, “on the lived-through experience of a mind wandering episode as that episode is experienced subjectively, by the worker him/herself” (p. 3). They also wanted to allow participants to experience mind-wandering in real situations rather than in the artificial conditions of a lab. They wanted to see, as they proposed, “the dynamic nature of mind wandering as part of work experience” (p. 4). This approach allowed them the flexibility to study daydreaming in its natural environment while also maintaining scientific rigor. According to “grounded theory,” it’s just as valid to analyze open-ended responses (if done in a systematic manner) as it is to apply the methods of survey research and quantitative analysis.
這個由梅洛和她的同事所進行的綜合研究採取了一個個人中心取向的研究方法，由參與者用自己的話來講述他們作白日夢的原因、內容，以及他們覺得從這些心智游移的過程中得到了什麼結果。作者們說，他們所關注的是「心智游移的整個經歷，因為這個過程只能由個別參與者親身主觀地經歷」（p. 3）。他們還希望能讓參與者在實際的情境中經歷心智游移的狀態，而不是在實驗室中人工創造下的條件內經歷。他們說，他們希望看到的是「作為工作中的一環，心智游移所呈現出來的動態特性」（p. 4）。此研究方法讓他們能夠靈活地在其該有的環境中研究白日夢，同時保持科學的嚴謹。根據「紮根理論」，分析開放式反應（若其能有系統地完成）其實就和使用調查研究和量化分析的方式一樣有效。
Participants in the Georgia Tech study, then, were all working adults obtained from two university sites, whose average age was 40 years old. They represented a diverse set of occupations and half were white/Caucasian with the remainder identifying as African American (45%) or Asian (5%). In the open-ended interview the participants completed, the less technical term “daydreaming” was used rather than mind-wandering.
喬治亞理工學院研究的參與者當時都是從兩個大學校區中找到的上班族，他們的平均年齡為40歲。他們來自於各行各業；一半為白種人，其餘的分別為非裔美國人（45％）和亞洲人（5％）。在參與者完成的開放式訪談中，使用的是比較非術語性的「白日夢」，而不是使用心智游移。
The analyses, then, rather than representing statistical tests, reflected the broad themes that emerged across interviews, divided into the 3 areas regarding the onset, ending, and outcome of daydreams. Looking first at onset, or triggers, these ranged from internal states (sadness, fatigue, or boredom), direct prompts (looking at something or someone), an internal progression (thinking about one thing that then leads to another), being in a meeting, and just taking a natural break (such as being in between projects). You can enter a daydream at work, then, either because you're inwardly triggered to do so by a mental state, externally stimulated by something that happens to you, or by being in a work situation that naturally fosters daydreaming.
當時的分析(而不是統計方法)，顯示了訪談中出現的廣泛主題，其分為有關白日夢的開始、結束和結果這3個面向。先看開始或觸發因素，這些包括內在狀態（悲傷、疲勞或無聊）、直接提示（看著某事或某人）、內部發展（想著一件事，接著從前者又想到另一件事）、開會中，以及只是在正常的休息狀態時（像是在不同項目之間）。你可能會在工作時進入白日夢的狀態，它可以是因為內在被某個精神狀態所觸發、也可以是外在被某件發生的事情所刺激，或是自然地就在工作環境中促成了白日夢的狀態。
People snapped out of their mind wandering, the authors reported, for similar reasons. They can be faced with external cues, such as the “ping” of an email landing in their inbox, internal cues, or becoming aware that they were daydreaming, or by the daydream reaching its natural conclusion and there was nothing left to daydream about. You might wake from your daydream, then, because someone is standing in front of you and demanding your attention, or because you realize it’s time to get back to what you were doing.
作者們說，大家會從心智游移的狀態中回神也是因為類似的原因。他們可能是遇到像是電子郵件「ping」到了信箱時等外部提示、內部提示，或是意識到自己正在作白日夢，或是在白日夢自然結束而沒有其他東西可以想的時候。你可能會從白日夢的狀態中醒來，是因為有人站在你面前，要你注意他，或是因為你意識到了要將注意力放回你正在做的事情上。
Most interesting from the standpoint of daydreaming’s effect on your mental health and productivity were the responses that participants provided about the perceived outcome of a mind-wandering episode. They described some negative impacts, such as feeling guilty about having drifted off from their work tasks or continuing to experience a negative mood state from the daydream if it involved worrying or reliving a sad event. However, many of the participants believed that daydreaming had benefited their emotions and their work performance. One software consultant noted that “Because they are so short and I find them to be pleasant, they never hurt me.” Some noted that they worked harder after the daydream ended to catch up any lost time or effort. A financial administrator stated making fewer mistakes after a daydream break “because I was getting bored with the task.”
從白日夢對心理健康和生產力的影響的觀點來看，最有趣的是參與者對他們心智游移感受的結果所給出的回應。他們描述了一些負面影響，像是從工作中分心會感到愧疚、或是若白日夢與擔憂或回想一件悲傷的事有關，會讓他們一直處在負面的情緒之中。儘管如此，不少參與者仍然認為白日夢對他們的情緒和工作表現有幫助。一位軟體顧問師說：「因為白日夢不長、能讓我感到開心，還不會害我。」有些人說，在白日夢結束後他們會更加努力的工作，以補上這些失去的時間或努力。一位財務管理人員表示會在白日夢之後比較少出錯，「因為我開始對這個工作感到無聊。」
The authors were struck not only by these positive outcomes, but also by the fact that mind-wandering seemed to be a process that the participants stated they could control. They could decide to avoid an aversive work environment with a brief mental wander somewhere else, and when they wanted to end the daydream, they could readily do so. As a result, the authors concluded, “mind wandering may be able to be used strategically to enhance work experience” (p. 12). The micro-break the daydream provides can help to combat fatigue and strain during the day because “it allows individuals to cognitively and affectively disengage from their work demands” (p. 13). You don’t need to wait until the weekend or your next vacation, the findings suggest, to get the mental health benefits of a break. Although mind-wandering seems “mindless,” at another level, using your daydreams to enhance your well-being can be an exceptionally mindfulness-boosting experience.
作者們不僅驚訝於這些正面的結果，也驚訝於參與者說他們似乎可以控制心智游移這個過程。他們可以決定不要在一個討厭的工作環境下進行一次短暫的心智游移，而當他們想要結束白日夢時，也可以隨時做到。因此，作者得出結論，「心智游移可能可以被策略性地用來提高工作經驗」(p. 12)。白日夢所提供的微休息有助於在白天消除疲勞和緊張，因為「它能讓個人在認知上和在情感上擺脫工作上的需求」(p. 13)。研究結果顯示，你不需要等到週末或是下次放假時，才能得到休息對心理健康帶來的好處。雖然心智游移看似「無腦」，但在另一個層面上，用白日夢來提升福祉可以是一個特別能促進大腦專注於當下的體驗。
To sum up, the Merlo et al. findings suggest that the occasional daydream, especially the one that allows you to unfocus and then refocus, can be one of the best ways to become better at what you’re doing. The associated feelings of being refreshed and ready to tackle your next task can become just the antidote you need to lower stress and boost your feelings of day-to-day fulfillment.
總而言之，梅洛等人的研究結果指出，偶爾作作白日夢，特別是那種能夠讓你放鬆注意力又重新聚集注意力的白日夢，是能讓你目前的工作做得更好的方法之一。這種重新提起精神並作好應對下一個工作的感覺，可能正是你需要用來減緩壓力的紓解辦法，還可以增強你對日常成就的感受。
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