How to Use Daydreaming as a Problem Solving Tool

Been working, working, working? Maybe it's time for a daydream or two.

Dec 19, 2024

If you’ve put in the work. Take a break. Daydream. Let your subconscious finish up. Image by Jeff x DALLE.3

Close your eyes. Now, imagine yourself as a wildly successful entrepreneur, leading a global conglomerate toward a sustainable future. Maybe you’re an Olympic athlete defying odds or the scientist who cures humanity’s greatest diseases. You could be the firefighter, the chess grandmaster, or the Jiu-Jitsu world champion.

Perhaps you’re even among the 1% who survive the zombie apocalypse.

Take a deep breath - in through the nose: out through the nose - and let that vision settle in your mind. Then let it wander. This isn’t escapism. It’s not procrastination. It’s purposeful daydreaming. When combined with effort and intention, daydreaming becomes a creative superpower that links your conscious and subconscious mind, helping you solve problems and generate ideas.

Why Your Brain Needs Daydreaming

Purposeful daydreaming works because of the brain’s default mode network (DMN). This network activates when your mind isn’t focused on a specific task, allowing seemingly unrelated ideas to connect.

Research shows that the DMN is crucial for creative thinking and problem-solving. While your conscious mind often operates linearly, your DMN takes a broader, more associative approach. It jumps from thought to thought. It’s why stepping away from a problem often leads to an “aha!” moment. It’s why your best ideas come in the shower or on a walk or in a dream as you sleep.

Your brain is a computer. When you’re actively working on a problem, the processor runs hot, executing commands in a structured way. But when you stop actively thinking and let your mind wander, the background processes — your DMN — take over. These processes sift through data, make connections, and present solutions that may seem to appear out of nowhere. But only if you’ve loaded yourself up with data, and experiences, and readings.

How History’s Greatest Minds Used Daydreaming

Daydreaming isn’t just a quirky pastime. Benjamin Franklin used it. Mark Twain. Some of history’s greatest thinkers, scientists, artists and innovators have used and expanded the process of daydreaming to their benefit.

Albert Einstein, for instance, credited his breakthroughs to what he called “combinatory play” — imagining scenarios where different concepts collided. His famous theory of relativity began as a daydream about chasing a beam of light, which shifted to trains, which bounced to clocks.

Nikola Tesla reportedly visualized his inventions in full detail before ever building a prototype. He used his mind like a workshop, playing out scenarios, troubleshooting problems, and refining designs entirely through daydreaming. Often solving problems while walking or working on some type of a minor day-to-day problem.

Hemingway advised to stop writing for the day before you ran out of ideas. He believed that as long as you gave your mind something to work on it would continue with story development while you slept. Or in his case, drank a daiquiri, or went fishing. It allowed the subconscious to work.

Don’t get it mixed up. It takes work. Answers don’t come to those that haven’t searched diligently for them. Your brain needs the raw materials to source.

This is why nothing ever happens without work and effort.

It’s Not a Shortcut

Yes. There is a catch. Purposeful daydreaming only works when paired with effort. Creativity doesn’t arise from thin air — it’s the result of hard work, emotional investment, and the freedom to let your brain wander.

When you’ve hit a wall after studying, brainstorming, or grinding on a project, your subconscious takes over. That’s where daydreaming comes in.

But don’t confuse this with wishful thinking or hocus-pocus manifestation. You can’t just lie back and expect inspiration to rain down. First, you need raw materials — knowledge, effort, and care. Then, daydreaming becomes the magic ingredient that connects the dots in new ways.

How to Daydream with Purpose

Follow these steps to unlock the power of purposeful daydreaming:

Start with the Work
Creativity starts with preparation. Research your problem. Brainstorm. Read. Put in the effort to understand the issue. Ask yourself questions even if you don’t have a clue about the answer. Especially if you don’t have an answer.
Care Deeply
If you’re not emotionally invested, your brain won’t work as hard to find solutions. Care about the problem you’re solving. Your brain is deciding if the problem is worthy of expending energy. Your brain is a power suck. It takes lots of blood and calories and oxygen to properly function. So if you don’t seem to care enough your brain will ignore it. It’ll save it’s energy for something you do care about.
Stay Positive
Daydreams can wander down dark paths. Keep your prompts positive and uplifting. If negativity creeps in, refocus on something pleasant or stop entirely.
Prompt the Dream
Close your eyes, take deep breaths (can’t do anything well without proper breathing), and imagine yourself in a grand scenario: winning a Nobel Prize, standing atop Everest, or solving a global crisis. Whatever floats your boat. Want to write? Imagine you’ve just finished the ‘Great American Novel.’
Let Your Mind Wander
Daydreaming isn’t linear. Your thoughts may jump from solving a work issue to imagining how you’d respond to a challenge in a zombie apocalypse. Embrace the randomness. And it won’t happen immediately. It takes time. You’re just prompting your brain now. It’ll spit out an answer when it wants. But it will. Spit it out.
Go With It
Often, daydreaming can get specific. You may daydream a response to an attack on the street, to a tough question from your boss, or your partner. You may dream of specific steps to take to reach a goal or to become more efficient at a task. You may daydream a full-on conversation with yourself, interview yourself, and make plans for your future. Keep going. It’s working.
Be Aware
Insights may come wrapped in subtle ideas or sudden epiphanies. Stay alert to the messages your subconscious delivers.
Schedule It
Set aside time for daydreaming after working hard on a problem. Your subconscious needs room to connect ideas, so give it the space to do its thing.

Why It Works

Your brain is wired for problem-solving. It evolved to connect ideas, invent tools, and plan for the future. Purposeful daydreaming taps into this innate ability, blending conscious and subconscious thinking into a powerhouse for creativity.

And the best part? It’s fun. You were born with the ability to dream. Now, you can harness it to solve problems, spark innovation, and even change the world.

Dangers of Daydreaming

Daydreaming is not on a timeline. If you have a deadline that needs to be met, don’t sit around waiting. The time to daydream is over.

Daydreaming can be used to procrastinate. It’s the opposite of ‘analysis paralysis’ although neither is productive. If your daydreaming is being used to stop you from beginning your work, it is not a productive use of your time. If you start with daydreaming it won’t work. You need raw data.

Research says that your mind will wander about 50% of the time each day. Often it will wander toward negative events. Constant ruminating on negative thoughts can lead to depression and mental illness. Daydreaming that constantly leads to negative thoughts should be stopped. Get up. Take a walk. Interrupt your daydreaming with physical activity. Write. Get a finger spinner. Get physical. If these actions do not stop the negative daydreaming, try a therapist.

Your thoughts are powerful tools. If you need help using them, get help.

It’s a Tool, So Use It Well

Daydreaming will help you with problem-solving. It’ll boosts your creativity. It won’t eliminate the work.

But, it is fun. You have a natural ability to daydream. It is something we are all born being able to do. It helps us learn. Daydreamers are more adaptable and more open to new ideas. So, prop your feet up, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and dream sweet thoughts.

You may say I’m a dreamer but I’m not the only one. I hope some day you’ll join us. And the world will live as one. — John Lennon

A perfect story prompt. Dream on. Question on. Read on.

Next up: I’m starting a three article series on Information. Been working on it for awhile and I think it’s a critical component and has steered our modern society into areas we have surprised and shocked some of us. Why? And how do we fight back? It all starts with story. Stories start with information. They are a way to explain our world and our reality.

Brain-Slap

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