Mind Wandering and Attention: What Happens When You Try to Focus

Why attention drifts

Mind wandering means attention drifting away from what you are doing toward other thoughts. A smartphone study that sampled people's ongoing thoughts, feelings and actions found that people think about what is not happening almost as often as about what is. [1] The authors also reported that this typically made people unhappy. [1] That is one observational study in one setting, so it describes a pattern rather than proving cause.

Mind wandering is not only a meditation problem. It is a common feature of everyday attention, which is why many meditation instructions start with it.

What happens when you try to focus

In a brain-imaging study, 14 meditators did breath-focused meditation and pressed a button whenever they noticed their mind had wandered. [2] The researchers described a cycle with four intervals: mind wandering, awareness of mind wandering, shifting of attention, and sustained attention. [2] Default-mode brain regions were active during wandering, salience-network regions during noticing, and executive-network regions during shifting and sustained attention, and these patterns varied with lifetime meditation experience. [2]

The practical message matches the NHS advice for mindfulness: it is not about making thoughts go away but about seeing them as mental events that come and go. [3] The NHS describes sitting practice as bringing your attention back whenever the mind starts to wander. [3]

Do experienced meditators wander less?

In a study of 29 meditators with more than 3 years of experience and 29 non-meditators, the meditators reported more focus and less mind wandering during breath meditation, and their EEG patterns differed from controls. [4] Because the groups were compared at one time, we cannot tell whether meditation caused the difference or whether people who are good at focusing tend to keep meditating.

Does training reduce mind wandering?

Results are mixed and depend on the program, the comparison group and the measure.

1. Randomized study of a 2-week mindfulness course

   Promising but limited (short, early)

   Training improved reading-comprehension scores and working memory capacity while reducing distracting thoughts. [5]

   Who and what: Participants in a randomized controlled study (the abstract does not say what the control was)

2. Five early studies of a short mindfulness attention program (N = 304)

   Promising but limited (no active control)

   Mind wandering, meta-awareness and response-time variability differed from no training; authors call it preliminary proof of concept. [6]

   Who and what: Workplace and organizational groups; compared with no training

3. HealthyAgers randomized trial (N = 150)

   Mixed / no clear advantage over active control

   MBSR did not differentially improve most measures of sustained attention or mind wandering, though there was a small effect on self-reported task-unrelated thoughts. [7]

   Who and what: Adults aged 65 to 85; 8 weeks of MBSR versus an active control

4. Meta-analysis of 47 trials

   Insufficient evidence

   Low evidence of no effect or insufficient evidence of any effect on attention. [8]

   Who and what: Adults with active controls

The studies that compared with no training look more favorable than the trial and the review that used active controls, though they are not directly comparable. [6][7][8] Meditation trials usually cannot be blinded, and attention is often measured by self-report, which is open to expectation.

NCCIH adds that studies of mindfulness for ADHD have been of limited quality with mixed results, so evidence is not conclusive. [9] See meditation for ADHD and attention.

Practical points

• A wandering mind is expected, not a sign of doing it wrong. [3]
• People who train in focused meditation build the ability to monitor attention and distraction, which is why they can report on mind wandering. [2]
• Gentle movement can help some people with a busy mind: the NHS says some find it easier with gentle yoga or walking. [3]
• Try focused attention meditation, meditation for beginners or common obstacles.