Time Alone With Your Thoughts Could Be Beneficial
Taylor N. Day, PhD, a clinical psychologist and a mental wellness and alignment coach, says the APA study findings are significant because they’re key indicators that, although not always “extremely enjoyable,” reflection has a positive effect on our feelings of well-being. “There’s so much stimulus in our world right now that we almost expect that stimulus to be there. We as a culture crave being busy and active and having something to do, so we forget that sometimes the absence of something to do can create a lot of joy.”

The use of meditation has increased threefold in the United States, from 4.1 percent of adults in 2012 to 14.2 percent in 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That’s still a modest percentage of the population, though. 

Dr. Day hopes this study will bring more awareness to our need to log off, spend time with our thoughts, and let go of our collective fear of boredom. 

“I think we need to start and end our day without [distractions]. It allows us to clear the clutter in our minds,” Day says. “So often, people are overwhelmed by their thoughts and avoid them by hopping into action, but that doesn’t fix the problem.”

Thinking About Thinking Can Be Challenging for Some
If “meditation” sounds too formal, just know that you don’t have to do anything special to benefit from allowing your mind to wander. 

Day recommends becoming aware of the types of thoughts you’re having, to recognize whether you’re susceptible to things like rumination or catastrophizing — thinking something is worse than it is. She says you can learn to restructure these thoughts or work through feelings in talk therapy, but as a first and ongoing practice, taking the time to think without outside distractions is vital to combat the stresses of everyday life.

The research team responsible for the study suggests that more research is still necessary to better understand what types of thinking are more enjoyable and might motivate individuals. In addition, researchers believe the study needs to be carried out with more diverse groups of participants to better understand the benefits of self-reflection.