When researchers at Harvard University tracked the happiness level of iPhone users, they discovered that, for almost half of our waking hours, our minds are wandering. Using an iPhone app, participants rated their happiness on a scale of 0-100 and included what they were doing, and whether their mind was wandering beyond the task at hand. The results reveal that a wandering mind has a bigger influence on happiness than any other activity a person happens to be doing. Such wandering minds appeared to cause unhappiness, even with people were doing the least enjoyable activities, like daily work. Perhaps the more able we are to stay in the present, and resist the temptation to follow our minds down its endless paths, the happier we may find ourselves.
