The benefits of daydreaming

The more we focus on something, the quicker we will achieve our goal. At least, that’s what we tell ourselves. Meanwhile US-based psychiatrist Srini Pillay says that too much focus limits our creativity.

What happens when you focus too much?
“Let me say first of all that focus is a good thing to a certain degree, even indispensable, as it helps you finish your work, it organizes your thinking and keeps your emotions in check. When you focus less, you see more, because focusing too much can backfire. You can compare it to the narrow, bright beam of light from a flashlight that shines in a straight line ahead. It’s handy when you need to see what’s right in front of you, but less useful when you want to also see the things around you, in your peripheral view. Too much focus can make you less creative and less innovative.

A funny example comes from the Gillette company. Back in the day, it had a toothbrush department and a battery department, but initially it wasn’t managing to develop an electric toothbrush because each department was focusing separately only on its own range and own working methods. Being overly focused also exhausts your brain. It becomes difficult to make decisions and you become alienated from the people around you, even from yourself. Research has shown that you become less empathetic toward the people around you. Test subjects who were told to focus very intensely while watching a video, were afterward less inclined to voluntarily offer to help victims of a tragic event.”