There's a Paul Graham essay I happen to have read just the other day about this topic. In it, he refers to this concept as "ambient thought", though I've found

There's a Paul Graham essay I happen to have read just the other day about this topic. In it, he refers to this concept as "ambient thought", though I've found the title, "The Top Idea in Your Mind" to be a more sticky "motto" to remind me of the concept. ->https://www.paulgraham.com/top.html https://www.paulgraham.com/top.html