There is a wealth of research that examines why our mind wanders at the exact time we’re trying to focus. It does so significantly more when we’re feeling stressed or bored; we’re working in a chaotic environment; we’re dealing with and thinking about a number of personal concerns; we’re questioning whether we’re working on the most productive or meaningful task; or we have unused attentional space—the more we have, the more prone we are to mind-wandering episodes.
