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HAVE YOU EVER found yourself daydreaming in a meeting, doing the grocery shop or even while reading this article? (If so – concentrate, this is important.)
We’re often told that daydreaming is a sign of a vacant mind, but what if we were to tell you that daydreaming can actually be good for you? We spoke to psychologist Giulia Poerio from the University of York about her research into daydreaming, and the news is good – daydreaming can have a positive effect on your life.
So, feel free to sit back and dream about how your life would be if you owned a private island. But read this first.
Poerio tells us that a daydream, strictly speaking is:
A thought that isn’t helpful in the present moment.
That’s not to say though, that daydreaming is not a good thing. Although that particular daydream may not be helping with what you’re doing in the moment, it could be useful for your future. We use daydreaming to anticipate the future and solve problems there, anything from:
… buying milk to thinking about apologising to a friend that you might have upset.
Other daydreams can be anything from travelling the world to thinking about a new promotion.
Scientists aren’t sure yet why we daydream, but it has been found that the brain at rest spends a huge amount of energy on daydreaming – so it must be important. Daydreaming has been linked to creativity and problem solving. Poerio says:
Daydreaming allows us to make sense of the past and predict the future. And the ability to do that can help us achieve our goals.
It’s all about the type of daydreaming that you do, and even how you do it. Fanciful daydreaming, while pleasant and a nice distraction from the commute, is not as effective as daydreaming about real parts of our lives such as career or family goals. Imagining what we want to achieve in our lives and how to get there in concrete steps is the best way to actually make that happen.
Although daydreaming about a trip of a lifetime is a lot more fun than daydreaming about having to pick up groceries after work.
There are a number of ways that daydreaming can be good for us. The main two aspects of daydreaming that Poerio studies are how daydreaming helps with influencing emotional states, and goal setting and achieving.
People are using that idle time to plan for and anticipate the future. And this can be useful for gaining their goals.
Poerio has found through her studies that daydreaming can help with loneliness. Her studies have found that when lonely people daydream about someone they love, they can feel better, even more so than just daydreaming about something good happening to them.
When we ask people what they’re thinking about when they’re daydreaming, they’re thinking about other people. That’s not surprising – other people are the most important things in our lives, and we have this need to belong. Thinking about people who you’re close to can regulate a social need to belong.
She adds: “If you daydream about people that you’re close to that can increase your feeling of connection to people and love. We can use people in our imagination to influence our emotions and help us adapt to situations.”
It’s been found that some states are more conducive than others to daydreaming – and these tend to be while doing tasks that engage you but you don’t need to think about such as gardening, taking a walk or washing the dishes. One study found that people who were given boring tasks to do became more creative in their problem-solving. As Poerio says:
When they’re not trying to deliberately problem solve they come up with solutions.
So, there you have it – you’ve no excuse not to do the hoovering now. It will help you daydream better, and could improve your life, too. Remember that next time someone tells you to get your head out of the clouds.
Fancy doing a little daydreaming this evening? The Euromillions offers you bigger jackpots more often - and more millionaires than ever before. Tonight’s jackpot is an estimated €17m. #ShareTheDream and let us know what you’d do. You might also be interested in checking out our all new Good News section on TheJournal.ie. Only the best and happiest news of the day. Now that’s worth daydreaming about…
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“Think of something pleasant so you appear sincere” OR be sincere.
You forgot to mention that Winston Churchill spent most of his life in an alcoholic haze. His famous “fight them on the beaches” speech sounds so belligerent because he was apparently 3 sheets to the wind . The nation thought that it was his fighting spirit that made him sound so resolute but in fact it was more probably the contents of a bottle of brandy that gave him that growling tone. The only thing he didn’t do was finish off his speech with “the fugging bashtrds, I’ll take ‘em all on!”.
…rewriting history there Brian, are we?
Ya churchy baby loved the sauce, some of his hardest and best decisions were made late at night with a brandy bottle. He said that he got more out of booze than booze ever got out of him.
The Dude, far from it. Churchill was a renowned drinker who had champagne for lunch and dinner followed by brandy and was rarely seen without a glass of whiskey by his side. He reputedly got sick as a young boy and his doctor advised him to drink sherry as a remedy only he neglected to mention how much and more importantly when to stop, This article http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/11371641/The-day-I-tried-to-match-Churchill-drink-for-drink.html lays out what Churchill drank during the day. It would make most people completely useless by tea time but to someone who had being drinking for years it would be achievable.
Another notable person who was an working alcoholic for most of their life and still achieved success is Ingvar Kampard, the founder of Ikea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingvar_Kamprad . He reckons that he became an alcoholic by drinking large amounts of vodka while doing deals with suppliers and customers in Poland as he grew the business. He reputedly drinks 2 bottles of vodka a day but dries out 3 times a year.
It didn’t stop him from becoming the greatest leader of the 20th century!
I never said it did. Although calling him the greatest leader of the 20th century may well be a matter for debate.
Keep your hands out of your pockets as you shake someone’s hand. Solid advice
Mono Official
And politicians take note, – keep your hands out of other people’s pockets when shaking their hands…
” 2. Reduce how quickly and often you nod. ” – Mary (headbangin’ to a ‘Whole lot of Rosie’.) Robinson take note.
‘Make people feel like they’re the most intelligent, impressive and fascinating person you’ve ever met’
So.
If you’re talking to some boring a**hole then you’re actually suppressing your rational intelligence and becoming a two faced duplicitous a**hole yourself in the process.
Great.
That really makes sense.
One sure fire way to become the least influential person in the world….
Tell people what you really think of them.
That is the most intelligent, impressive and fascinating thing I’ve ever heard. Please, Oran, do go on…
Is that you Oprah?
Oran what if bullies read this and thing, yes we can bully someone and use these techniques against the victim they are bullying? By spreading lies about the victim to justify the bullying as craic or as excuses for the bullying by controlling the reasons for it or getting others to join in on it because they are stupid or immature not to know the difference?
……
Keep on noticing this trend: Take a common sense subject, go over think the subject for years & then write a book about it.
No to FG/Lab/FF
So what is the alternative ?
A shower of misfits !
Careful what you wish for
Seeing as it’s about being a false leader.
Should we not ad.
1 Be corrupt and willing to take back handers.
2 Get wealthy corrupt backers behind you and be willing to forward their agenda no matter how vile it is.
3 Loose all respect and love for fellow humans including your own family.
…and use a teleprompter.
Johnneary
And hire 25 personal assistants and staff to tell him what to say, – but heaven forbid that he takes part in any live debate, in case he’s found out…
…I was referring to Hussein Obama
Amen Guys.
Practicing all of the things in the above article won’t produce a charismatic/good leader.
It may produce a bought out, false also-ran puppet pseudo leader, kleptocrat or crony capitalist.
‘Think of something pleasant and a photo of Oprah underneath..bad call
This is a joke but did you mean… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SOvZmVD1kQ
I use to get drunk and loved everybody then and I didn’t have a good time unless the other person had a good time as well.
How about stopping this nonsense and become truthful to yourselves and to others, liking or loving people is the best way to becoming charismatic. Anything else just makes you a liar to yourself and to others.
I do dislike this as it is a way to make people fake in other to get what THEY WANT and that is using people. Another name for people like this is sociopathic…
13. Get confident, stupid!
Wave your hands all over the place whilst talking
Is not meaning and believing what you say the most important thing not good acting.
You wha? “Think of something pleasant so you appear to be sincere.” Become an excellent listener by deliberately pausing and asking questions.” and “Combine your power with warmth to create a full, charismatic package.”
Congratulations, you are now becoming a sociopath?
A bad handshake is the worst, men or women it doesn’t matter a limp,weak n slithering handshake has just ruined anything else you try to say! Also don’t touch me anywhere else when you shake my hand, my hand your hand end of,no shoulders, no elbows, no mid arm,no mid waist just the hand thanks!
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