Firstly, you might wonder why our brains decide that we shouldn’t be concentrating at a given time. Scientists refer to this feature (or bug) as Default Mode Network or DMN, though the less-specific mind-wandering can also be used. Basically, if the correct circumstances are met, like doing an activity you have ample experience with, your brain will “push” the taste to the background, allowing you to start thinking about something else, even when you don’t actually want this to happen. 

Driving is one of the most common activities that causes people’s minds to wander. If the individual is an experienced driver and isn’t generally stressed while on the road, they may quickly enter an auto-pilot-like state. This isn’t necessarily a danger to other drivers or pedestrians, but the individual might end up driving to the wrong location or missing an exit or turn. But some studies indicate that up to half of road accidents are the result of one or more parties not paying attention behind the wheel. 

As people age, their mind tends to wander less, as researchers have found evidence that older adults are more conscientious than younger adults. This is directly linked with less mind-wandering, however, other personality traits can still influence how “present” or not a person is when doing a familiar task. For example, people with ADHD are more prone to spontaneous mind wandering.

But this shouldn’t be construed to mean that one’s mind wandering is a sign of attention deficiencies in general. We spend almost a quarter of the time thinking about things that are completely unrelated to the task or situation in front of us. This is somewhat frightening, considering the amount of time we spend, driving, cooking with fire and knives, and other activities where even a minor slip-up can have grave consequences. 

Similar to mind-wandering, many people also have stories of general absent-mindedness. During this time, their body starts to do something automatically. These processes are called automatisms to reflect how the body performs them naturally. Interestingly, when we make a mistake during automation, we tend to blame the body part, not ourselves. So if you are daydreaming about a vacation while sorting papers and get a papercut, you might consider your hand, not your lapse in attention, responsible.