We experience different modes of attention throughout the day. Two of the most noticeable are what neuroscientists call the central executive mode and the default, or resting-state mode. In the central executive mode we are focused, we direct our thoughts and filter our distractions. In the resting-state mode, our thoughts meander, they are loosely connected, and this has led to its being called the “daydreaming mode” of the brain. The daydreaming mode is restorative after you’ve been focusing on something intensely for a while, and it is often the mode during which you can effectively solve
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