Idea Powers No. 7 of 28
They call it: Mind always wandering We call it
Many Threads
Also known as several thoughts at once.
The short version Several trains of thought run in your head at once. It’s a real power, and like any big power it takes practice to control.
Collected. 0 of 28.
Sounds like you?
- You plan dinner, replay a conversation and chew on a puzzle, all at once.
- You get the answer to yesterday’s problem while doing something else.
- You lose your place mid-sentence because another thought cut in.
Why it’s a power
Your mind runs several lines of thought at once, and researchers can measure it. One survey line reads “I have two or more different thoughts going on at the same time”. Among 81 adults with ADHD and 30 without, the ADHD group scored almost four times as high.Source 1
It’s a power you have to learn to control. Think of Cyclops or Jean Grey in the X-Men: the gift comes first, the control later. Untrained, the threads cost a lot: in that study they best predicted daily life being hard.Source 1 In another study, not noticing the wandering explained part of the trouble.Source 2 Across 10 trials, mindfulness training improved daily functioning for adults with ADHD, though the noticing skill itself didn’t measurably change.Source 3
Aimed, it can be where answers turn up. In one general-population experiment, people whose minds drifted during a dull break gave more creative answers.Source 4 In another, people with many ADHD traits mostly missed that useful kind.Source 2
Lived experience
Researchers can measure several-thoughts-at-once in adults with ADHD. So far they have measured what it costs unsteered, not what it gives once it’s trained.
Where it shines
- Brainstorming and big-picture planning
- Long walks, showers, car rides
- Problems that need to simmer
The flip side
Untrained, the threads run you. They cut into conversations, pull you off the task and make it hard to finish a thought.
Power-up: try this today
Say out loud which thread you’re on, and park the others on paper until you’re done.
Say it to a kid
Think of Cyclops from the X-Men. His eye beams are amazing, and he had to learn to aim them. Your busy brain is like that. You’re learning to aim it.
Where this comes from
- Mowlem, F. D., Skirrow, C., Reid, P., Maltezos, S., Nijjar, S. K., Merwood, A., Barker, E., Cooper, R., Kuntsi, J., & Asherson, P. (2019). Validation of the Mind Excessively Wandering Scale and the relationship of mind wandering to impairment in adult ADHD. Journal of Attention Disorders, 23(6), 624-634. Read it
- Franklin, M. S., Mrazek, M. D., Anderson, C. L., Johnston, C., Smallwood, J., Kingstone, A., & Schooler, J. W. (2017). Tracking distraction: the relationship between mind-wandering, meta-awareness, and ADHD symptomatology. Journal of Attention Disorders, 21(6), 475-486. Read it
- Kim, H.-H., & Jung, N.-H. (2025). Mindfulness-based interventions for adults with ADHD: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Medicine (Baltimore), 104(37), e44308. Read it
- Baird, B., Smallwood, J., Mrazek, M. D., Kam, J. W., Franklin, M. S., & Schooler, J. W. (2012). Inspired by distraction: mind wandering facilitates creative incubation. Psychological Science, 23(10), 1117-1122. Read it