Mind-wandering and happiness

Last week I read a really interesting article in the Harvard Business Review about studies on happiness (called "The Science Behind the Smile," Jan-Feb 2012, p. 85). Part of this article talked about mind-wandering and how it affects happiness. It said this:

"One major finding is that people's minds wander nearly half the time, and this appears to lower their mood. Wandering to unpleasant or even neutral topics is associated with sharply lower happiness; straying to positive topics has no effect either way....no matter what people are doing, they are much less happy when their minds are wandering than when their minds are focused....All of this strongly suggests that to optimize our emotional well-being, we should pay at least as much attention to where our minds are as to what our bodies are doing."

I think I have a lot to learn and to change about this. Perhaps I am not being effective at all, and am actually doing more harm overall, by spending time in the shower thinking about work, for example. Perhaps it's more important to spend the time in the shower thinking about how nice the running water feels on my head. I know that over the last week as I've tried to be more mindful (what I'm calling reeling in my mind to stick with what my body's doing) I've been more aware of the beauty of light glimmering on the furniture or casting shadows. I've been less frustrated with the slowness of my kids. I think I've felt less worried about things more of the time. I've remembered how kids function; how their thoughts are very present.

I think this means that it's better to block out time more often for what my mind does just like we have to block out time for where we go with our bodies. This means that I need to block out time to think specifically about issues that come into my mind when it's not the time to think about those things, like maybe write that down and then schedule 15 minutes to think specifically about that issue at my desk. Part of me says there's no way I have time for that and that, for example, multi-tasking by thinking about it while I'm driving is good, but part of me also says there will be more peace in my life if I do it. I wonder if somehow God is always perfectly present, perfectly invested in the experience right in front of Him without being distracted by thoughts of anything that is not immediately connected to that present experience.