Our brains are noisy. Certain regions are always grinding away at involuntary activities like daydreaming, worrying about the future, and self-chatter, taking up to forty-seven percent of our waking time. This is mind wandering – and while it can tug your attention away from the present and contribute to anxiety, cognitive neuroscientist Moshe Bar reveals that there is a method behind this apparent madness. Mindwandering is the first popular book to explore the multi-faceted phenomenon of our wandering minds and the cutting-edge new research behind it. Bar combines his decades of research to explain the benefits and the possible cost of mind-wandering within the broader context of psychology, neuroscience, psychiatry, and philosophy, providing us with practical knowledge that can help you: - Develop your sense of self, better relate to others, and make associations that help you understand the world around you Increase your ability to focus by understanding when to wander – and when not to - Magnify and enrich your experiences by learning about full immersion - Stimulate your creativity by combing through the past and making predictions about the future - Boost your mood by unleashing your mind.