Daydreaming and video game playing can lead to increased confidence in real life. Maybe it’s not all just a waste of time.
Daydreaming has problem-solving power. Sometimes it helps to stop focusing so intently on an issue, and aim for what IDEO founder David Kelley’s mentor Bob McKim used to call “relaxed attention.” In that mental state, the problem or challenge occupies space in your brain, but not on the front burner.
And…
In the demimonde of video games, the level of challenge and reward rises proportionately with a gamer’s skills; moving forward always requires concentrated effort, but the next goal is never completely out of reach. This contributes to what author, futurist, and game designer Jane McGonigal calls “urgent optimism”: the desire to act immediately to tackle an obstacle, motivated by the belief that you have a “reasonable hope of success.”
Source: Wired.com