Daydreaming has always gotten a bad rap. For most of us, when we were kids and our minds would wander, we were instructed to “focus” and stay oriented in the present. And even throughout our adult lives, daydreaming is viewed as a signal of distraction or laziness — a waste of time when productivity is the call of order. But what if the very thing we’ve been taught to avoid is, in fact, one of our most valuable skills? What if daydreaming holds the key to unlocking creativity, problem-solving, and even emotional resilience?In a world hooked on the ideas of efficiency and action, this underrated practice of daydreaming opens one’s mind to alive breakthroughs, flourishing ideas, and hidden connections. Here’s why you should just let those free-spirited thoughts be, and how daydreaming just might be your superpower.

Daydreaming: The Creative Powerhouse

Although daydreaming is often described as no more than an unsystematic mental wandering, neuroscientists have recently made active states of such a mind and seriously beneficial. That is, when people engage in daydreaming, the default mode network-also known as the DMN-is turned on, comprising regions in the brain that light up when people are not…