In particular, there’s a region of the brain called the ‘default mode network’ (DMN) that governs the strange places our absent minds go to. The DMN helps us to recall memories, to daydream and to imagine the future. And it becomes more active the less engaged we are with mentally draining tasks. The problem with modern life is that we’re not very good at giving ourselves the time and space to activate our DMN. If anything, mind-wandering gets a bad reputation, often being equated with wasting time.
