Have you ever been sitting on the toilet and, all of a sudden, you crap out a thought nugget? Or watched an a-ha-shower-moment get washed away along with your dirt, sweat, and tears?
The brain has a funny way of responding to an idle state - it begins to wander.
Mind-wandering is when you’re less aware of external information and more focused on internal thoughts.
Your body is busy doing something that requires very little attention, so your mind begins to wander.
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Your wandering mind is the product of an insanely interconnected part of your brain called the Default Mode Network (DMN). The Default Mode Network (DMN) kicks in when you are not focused on a task. Since your brain is not busy, it relaxes, and you start day-dreaming or spacing out.
It’s like your brain gets up from the desk, leaves the office, and takes a walk to feed the ducks.
Mind-wandering is an extremely useful tool when you’re working out creative ideas and looking for unique connections.
Or when you’re weighing your options and playing with possible outcomes.
It’s great for introspection and reflection to find out who you are or who you want to be.
It’s an “I”-focused, self-aware process that helps you gather an understanding of yourself and your existence.
Once you focus on a new task (crunching numbers, talking to someone, reading) your brain returns from the walk and gets back to work.
The switch from mind-wandering (Default Mode Network) to getting back on task happens through the Salience Network (SN). The Salience Network (SN) does a bunch of stuff. Right now, let its only job be switching between mind-wandering and on-task focusing.
When you’re done mind-wandering (DMN) and need to focus on a task, the Salience Network (SN) switches over to the Central Executive Network (CEN).
The Central Executive Network (CEN) drives action. It uses what you’re trying to get done (internal drive) and how you prefer to do it (personal preference) in order to find the right action.
Imagine you’re standing on one side of a river. This side is the DMN and your mind is wandering. You’re making cool connections and thinking about why you believe something is true.
But then you realize you need to write an email for work. This realization activates your SN bridge to come down.
You take the bridge, leaving mind-wandering behind, and cross to the CEN-side to write the email for work.
The bridge goes back up and waits for when you want to cross back over to mind-wandering.
Your mind can’t be wandering when you’re giving a presentation or balancing your company’s budget . In that moment your CEN is fully engaged and working on a task. You need to pay full attention.
But it can wander when you’re taking a crap or showering.
When you take a walk or do some gardening.
It even wanders when you drive, like when 3 hours of travel blurs together and you don’t remember a thing.
My favorite time to wander is during physically repetitive tasks.
A 2015 study found that when your mind is wandering your ability to complete a repetitive task goes up.
The wandering mind (DMN) complements the task completing part of the brain (CEN).
A major area of CEN activity is the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC).
Fun Fact
Injury to the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC) can result in the patient suffering from repetitive compulsory behaviors and tics (study). This is an important part of the brain when it comes to repetitive action.
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In the study, the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC) was externally stimulated three different ways:
fully
partially (tickled)
not at all
The test subjects were given a repetitive task to complete — watch a screen and hit the space bar for every number except the number three (3).
Participants who received stimulation to the DLPFC experienced more mind-wandering AND improved task-completion rates.
The wandering brain, through the mingling networks, focused more efficiently on completing the task.
These seemingly mutually-exclusive networks (DMN vs CEN) come together and provide a practical synergy.
It’s like you were meant to get some thinking done while doing boring, repetitive things.
This means your mind-wandering doesn’t have to be limited to toilet time —
As if! Everyone is on their phones whilst pushing out that large.
Which is gross because your use-it-all-day-device is entering the room designated for your waste.
More importantly, you’re flushing the opportunity to get some mind-wandering done.
Sidenote
Close the lid when you flush. The pressure from the flush throws bacteria, viruses, etc. into the air. It’s called a toilet plume. Those little particles settle on your toothbrush, hair dryer, whatever you’ve got in there, and some of those things go in your mouth later that evening… it’s pretty gnarly.
That sounded a bit judgmental, I know, so I’m going to restore balance by sharing a personal misfortune.
I grew up with a quaker parakeet named Kiwi. I’d get home and immediately grab that beautiful bastard. Homework, hanging out, dinner… he was always there.
On this particular evening I’m sitting on the living room couch wearing my knock-off Jncos (LEE Pipes). That style went something like this:
I’m satisfying my hormonally-driven desire for “storytelling” with Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
I also have milk and Oreos.
I don’t know how you do it, but I dip Oreos into milk until the outer cookies get soft. I love that creamy center melting between those moist, chocolate cookies.
As usual, my attention is snatched by curves and cleavage. The cookie soaks a little too long, resulting in, you know… pre-crumb.
But that’s just milk-and-cookie edging for you: it all pays off when you finally get to suck down that sweet, sweet cookie-milk.
No matter who I’m with, what I’m doing, or where I am, my brain is always wandering into lust.
Buffy conjures up feelings that make me forget what I’m doing. I stop caring about who the hell I am. The pants help hide this.
As I drool on one of the three shirts I always wear, Kiwi does his own thing: climbing me, walking around the couch, cleaning himself, whatever.
I pre-crumb again. Some of it lands on my thigh. I can’t miss an exposed midriff, so I scoop it up with my index finger and pop it in my mouth. Midriffs were why I made it through high school.
The milk tastes fine. Then the cookie melts into my tongue. It’s repulsive. And warm. An acidy, bitter punch overtakes my mouth.
But I don’t gag or spit it out. I dig my heels in and swallow. Like a real man.
The bodily cringe almost breaks my attention from the show.
Embrace the chaos, goddammit. Every second matters. You can’t miss a leather-bound booty.
The show ends. The final swig of milk washes away any remaining bitterness. All that delayed gratification brings me back to clarity.
I wonder about that nasty cookie again. It tasted like…
The truth comes ten minutes later when Kiwi craps out another Oreo-colored pile of soft-serve.
Confirmed. I just ate shit.
You know who else ate shit?
Cindi Lauper.
She was performing when a bird-turd-bomb landed in her mouth mid-performance. Mid-note. She just wiped it away and finished the performance.
Yes. Tenacity. A true performer.
But then you have weak, little weenies like Kings of Leon cancelling shows due to pigeons crapping on them.
Could’ve gotten creative, dudes.
Made it a memorable show for everyone involved.
Or, ask Poland for some advice. Half of that country despises pigeons.
Pigeon crap is acidic and corrosive, so it destroys historic buildings and statues.
Throughout history Krakow allowed people to hunt the pigeons. People set up metal spikes or shards of glass on window sills and rooftops to prevent birds from landing. Most recently there were talks about importing Slovakian falcons to scare the pigeons away.
But birds are badasses and they’ll find a way. So you adjust.
Go buy some bird seed from the street vendor and let the pigeons crawl all over you. Yeah… Embrace the chaos.
What you don’t do is cancel a show because of some doo-doo on your face.
Cindi Lauper and I have eaten bird shit, Kings of Leon. Get real, boys. It’s not that bad.
I bet it exfoliates your skin. Livens up that greasy, tour hair. Corrodes the weakness of leaving your fans hanging.
But what do I know? The largest show I ever played was for 80 people.
And I would’ve eaten shit for each and every one of them.
Maui wowie, how do you like that for mind-wandering?
Hygiene and shit-eating aside — if you’re busy with your phone on the toilet, how will your mind have time to wander?
Maybe you’re not willing to stop watching cat videos in the loo.
Maybe it’s the only way for your sphincter to relax and let it out.
(Probably not).
Then try mind-wandering during physically repetitive tasks.
The same stuff we hate on and call tedious.
Cleaning, cooking, organizing, whatever other task you hate doing, is draining in two important ways.
Before you do any part of it you’re already thinking this sucks.
Then when you’re doing the task, the reason behind getting it done is because I have to.
These two ideas come together to form: this sucks, but I gotta get it done.
Now you’re just crapping on yourself.
It’s like the energy vampire you meet at the party — you can try to avoid him at all costs, but he’ll find you. He sucks. And you’re screwed.
But the easiest way to stop the energy vampire is to not give him what he wants. Embrace him differently. Ask him stupid questions. Be curious about how this person got so boring.
Change how you play the game.
Any tedious task can be an energy vampire, too. Especially when you’re stuck in this sucks, but I gotta get it done.
So change the way you play the game.
Just like the phone in the bathroom, don’t overlook the opportunity to mind-wander.
If you start cleaning and let your body get into the repetitive motion (CEN), your brain will get the opportunity to leave the office and feed the ducks (DMN).
Consider something physically repetitive that you may actually enjoy doing.
Exercise
Hiking, walking, running, cycling
Labor Intensive
Digging a hole in the ground, moving a pile of dirt, painting, sanding, grouting
Personal exploration
Gardening, caring for animals, sculpting
You’re doing the same shit over and over and over again.
Maybe you feel zen’d out. Zoned in. Blissed out.
Whatever you like to call it.
Your brain gets to do something different. It gets to relax.
I can imagine the reactions.
Yeah, but running gives me endorphins. Vacuuming is just stupid.
When I hike I see beautiful things. I don’t see cool shit when I’m washing dishes.
I garden to relax. Prepping meals for my picky, whiney kids doesn’t relax me.
This is all true.
What is also true is that you have choice over the stories you tell yourself.
Telling yourself I always need to be entertained is making sure you never wander again. Without wandering you risk missing out on the self-aware, reflective state that may inform who you want to be or how you want to act.
Where else will your vision of yourself come from if not from inside you?
(Answer coming soon)
Simply put, spending time with yourself is good for better understanding yourself.
Cleaning your space is spending time with yourself.
It’s also a simple expression of care to yourself and those who cohabitate with you.
Best part — you get something done more efficiently thanks to the DMN-CEN synergy, and come out the other end with new realizations or connections.
At the very least you’ll have finished something without fighting it the entire time.
Path of least resistance, right?
Maybe eventually you’ll begin to look forward to those tedious tasks.
Rewriting your approach to tedious tasks will help you focus on what you want to get out of it instead of maintaining a story based on why you don’t want to do it.
How many times have you heard someone complaining about needing to relax?
The story I need to relax is a tedious statement.
Our ideas of relaxation are compared to a fully stressed state.
Relaxation is the opposite of the always-grinding state of being, nothing else.
It’s the margarita on the beach away from all of life’s noises.
I disagree.
Relaxation is a choice.
Look in unexpected places.
Monastic rituals such as cleaning toilets, washing dishes, folding laundry, can give you the calm moments you’re looking for throughout your day.
It’s the time you need to slow down and focus on yourself because your body is going through familiar motions.
The task becomes an opportunity instead of a chore.
It’s now a way to relax.
Make relaxation the latest reflex.
Or keep crapping on yourself.
Only you can stop yourself from making your life more difficult.
Article Citations
Shofty, B., Gonen, T., Bergmann, E. et al. (2022). The default network is causally linked to creative thinking. Mol Psychiatry 27, 1848–1854 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-021-01403-8
Axelrod, V., Rees, G., Lavidor, M., and Bar, M. (2015). Increasing propensity to mind-wander with transcranial direct current stimulation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 112, 3314–3319. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1421435112
Fremont R, Dworkin J, Manoochehri M, et al. (2022). Damage to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is associated with repetitive compulsive behaviors in patients with penetrating brain injury. BMJ Neurology Open;4:e000229. https://neurologyopen.bmj.com/content/4/1/e000229#ref-25
Image Citations
Desk Worker https-//www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.10.19.344101v1.full
Brain Scans https-//www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00171/full
Skull https://www.diytdcs.com/2014/11/insight-a-growth-project-driven-by-tdcs-
cognitive-enhancement-montage-location-l-a-dlpfc-r-c-supra-orbital/