Daydreaming…ahhh. The practice of putting your head up in the clouds when you’re supposed to be keeping your feet on the ground.
We all do it. Some of us are pros, but some of us may need a little extra help with our zoning out. For those in the latter group, here are a few simple steps:
1. Choose a time and place where you are supposed to be doing something else
The number one pleasure of daydreaming is the fact that you are supposed to be doing something else while you do it. Something more practical, no doubt.
Really, daydreaming is just a very specific form of procrastination. But the benefits of daydreaming are that you don’t need any equipment other than your own imagination and you can do it without anyone realizing you are doing it.
Maybe you’re in a meeting, maybe you’re in a classroom (possibly you’re the teacher!), maybe you’re listening to a boring lecture, but no matter where you are or who you’re with, daydreaming is a delicious possibility.
2. Pick a subject that fascinates you endlessly
Have a favorite TV show or book that you can’t get off your mind? Is there someone special you’ve been thinking about? Maybe you enjoy a “choose your own adventure”-type daydream. Put yourself into your dream career – spy, pop star, world leader – and go there. But only in your mind.
When your meeting is finished and you go back to your desk at your ordinary job, remember what it felt like to be on stage in front of thousands of people, rapping the latest hit song. Or how it felt to escape from the bad guys across those rooftops in a major world city. Remember when you almost fell?
Insert yourself into that TV show or book you’ve been thinking about. Make up a new character for yourself or embody one that you already love. How does the story change with you there?
Has your crush noticed you yet? Is that even possible? Or are they just an image you saw somewhere? Either way, form them in your mind and interact with them. That’s a whole lot better than paying attention to those power point slides.
3. Come back to Earth
So, the thing about daydreaming is that you eventually do have to put your feet on the ground, or risk becoming a permanent space cadet.
Living as a powerful world leader is wonderful in your mind, but eventually you do have to live your real life and interact with the real people you know, as easy or as difficult as that may be. But keeping your feet on the ground (at least for a bit) isn’t so bad, and, in fact, feels pretty good.
You’ve gotta have a solid foundation for all that mind travel, so you can have a platinum selling album and a real, solid life as well.
Fantasies are important because they let us know what may be possible, or what our desires are (maybe in a symbolic form), but all of us live in reality, and we must remember that.
To get your dreams into reality, you have to make them real.
Bonus Step: 4. Be careful of blurring the line between reality and fantasy
Your daydreams are your daydreams and your life is your life. Remember that.
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