Subplot Kudzu

Yes, but you are supposing that this sort of analytical thought is "work," that is, something done effortfully and without enjoyment. For people who do it a lot, a more reasonable hypothesis is that it's "fun." That it is not "fun" for you is not germane; different people find different things fun. I can tell you that I'm doing this in stolen moments before I go back to work editing a scholarly book on the human population of Asia in the Paleolithic age—which I do count as "work," even if it's interesting work.