29. Minds Wander 30 Percent of the Time

MIND WANDERING IS A VERY COMMON PHENOMENON

During everyday activities your minds

wander up to 30 percent of the time, and in some cases, such as driving on an uncrowded

highway, it might be as high as 70 percent.

WHY A WANDERING MIND CAN BE A GOOD THING

Mind wandering does

allow you to switch focus from one idea to another, and then back again quickly.

WHY A WANDERING MIND CAN BE A BAD THING

Much of the time when your mind wanders, you’re unaware of it. More “zoning out” than

mind wandering, this means that you can miss important information.

TAKEAWAYS

People will only focus on a task for a limited time. Assume that their minds are wander-

ing often.

If possible, use hyperlinks to grab onto this idea of quickly switching from topic to topic.

People like Web surfing because it enables this type of wandering.

Make sure you build in feedback about where people are so that if they wander, it’s

easier for them to get back to the original location or go to the next.

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