Zoning out

Zoning out is an event we’ve all been through. It can happen at the most unfortunate times, and quite often, too! In fact, researchers have found that the average person spends up to 13% of their time detached from reality!

  The phenomenon of zoning out is also called “decoupling hypothesis”, and it basically takes place when our brain feels it is safe enough to raise the barrier between the real and imaginary world. So, whenever you blame yourself for zoning out mid-conversation, keep in mind that your brain simply didn’t find it interesting enough to be engaged in! What’s even more interesting, is that even our body does not respond to external stimuli anymore: our pupils don’t react to light, but instead contract and expand through a mind of their own, almost as a pulse of our own thoughts!

Is zoning out beneficial?

    Although it can cause us to forget certain things and to lose our workflow, zoning out is way more helpful than one may think.  For example, has it ever happened to you to come up with an awesome comeback in the shower to an argument you had earlier in the day ? We all remain completely flabbergasted, annoyed at how we didn’t come up with that idea when we were supposed to, but there is actually a simple explanation to it: when zoning out or resting our mind, we can get creative, and we feel safe to come up with various creative ideas and solutions to situations we are facing. That's why it is often recommended to give it a few days before making a really big decision, because it is through detaching ourselves that we are allowed to concentrate on our thoughts without external distractions and stimuli.

“Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out”

   Famous American psychologist Timothy Leary came up with the procedure of  “Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out”. These three actions all represent the stages in which we find ourselves when zoning out- to “Drop Out” means to dive into your own world, to channel your inner thoughts and imagination through detaching yourself. The other two, “Turn On and Tune In”, refer to returning to reality with a freshly formed perspective and way of thinking. It turns out that letting ourselves float freely through our thoughts can actually be a pretty productive idea, and before we even know it, a cartoon light bulb might suddenly light up above our head, like in the movies!

   Zoning out, daydreaming, “dropping out” from reality- these are vital activities to creativity and imaginative thought. It is through detaching ourselves completely that we end up solving our own puzzles, and our mind sometimes needs that! Although the society we live in requires endless amounts of effort and concentration to be put into our daily lives, remember to let your brain breathe every once in a while, it could prove to be beneficial!

Sources:

The Psychology Book- Big Ideas Simply Explained- page 148

Wolchover, N. (2011, June 24). Why do we zone out? livescience.com. https://www.livescience.com/33357-why-we-zone-out.html