Have you ever found yourself drifting off during class or while staring out the window, only to stumble upon an idea that feels fresh, exciting, or surprisingly insightful? These moments are often brushed off as distractions, but research suggests they may be fertile ground for creativity.

In their 2019 review, Kieran Fox and Roger Beaty argue that mind-wandering is not just idle thought—it closely resembles the very processes involved in creative thinking. Both rely on what psychologists call a dual-process model: first, the spontaneous generation of ideas, followed by their careful evaluation and refinement. Creativity is typically judged by two criteria, originality and usefulness, and mind-wandering often produces thoughts that fit both, at least for the individual thinker.

Mind-Wandering as Idea Generation

Mind-wandering describes thoughts that are not related to the task at hand or the immediate environment. In other words, it is the self-generated stream of inner dialogue, daydreams, and mental images that arises when our attention loosens. Scientists estimate that people spend nearly half of their waking lives in this state, generating thousands of thoughts every day.

Although many of these thoughts are repetitive or trivial, some are strikingly new. Importantly, producing them is not costly for the brain. In fact, spontaneous brain activity accounts for most of the brain’s energy use, and the marginal cost of generating a single thought is tiny. This makes mind-wandering a remarkably efficient system: even if most thoughts are unremarkable, a single useful one could change the course of someone’s life.

Neuroscience backs this up. Studies point to the medial temporal lobe—especially the hippocampus—and the brain’s default network as central to both mind-wandering and creativity. Patients with hippocampal damage, for example, often cannot imagine new experiences or future scenarios. This overlap suggests that the same brain systems fueling our daydreams also power our creative breakthroughs.

The Role of Evaluation

Creativity is not only about generating endless ideas; it also involves choosing and shaping the valuable ones. Mind-wandering sometimes includes a reflective stage, when we consciously evaluate or guide our thoughts. Although this part of the process is harder to study, evidence shows that when people intentionally focus on their wandering mind, regions linked to executive control light up.

Interestingly, some individuals report deliberately steering their daydreams. These people tend to show stronger connections between executive and default brain networks, hinting that intentional reflection can help transform fleeting thoughts into meaningful insights. In this way, evaluation acts as a filter, helping us separate sparks of creativity from background noise.

Novelty and Usefulness in Everyday Life

Do wandering thoughts truly count as creative? The answer depends on how we define creativity. On a personal level, many daydreams are both novel and useful: planning tomorrow’s schedule, finding a new solution to a problem, or imagining a conversation in advance. These thoughts might not revolutionize society, but they serve the thinker in meaningful ways.

Fox and Beaty emphasize that creativity exists on a spectrum. At one end are everyday, personally useful ideas; at the other are groundbreaking works of art or scientific discoveries. Mind-wandering sits comfortably on this spectrum, showing that even small, private insights can reflect the same core processes as world-changing creativity.

Rethinking Creativity

This perspective challenges the idea that creativity is a rare gift reserved for artists or geniuses. Instead, it suggests that every brain has a vast reservoir of potential ideas, most of which may never be shared. But just one thought born from a wandering mind can spark innovation, growth, or change.

So next time your mind drifts away from the page or screen, consider it not as wasted time but as an opportunity. Within those wandering thoughts may lie the seed of your next creative breakthrough.

References

Fox, K. C. R., & Beaty, R. E. (2019). Mind-wandering as creative thinking: Neural, psychological, and theoretical considerations. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 27, 123–130.