Getting a-head of my heart

I don't know about you, but when I close my eyes, I'm gone. Daydreaming, sleeping--I'm in another world.
A big struggle I find myself in a lot of the time is actually engaging my heart in conversation with God. Having the blessed imagination I have, someone can be praying in a group setting, and five minutes of prayer will pass until I finally realize I never was truly addressing God with my heart the whole time. I may have been giving mental ascent to the fact that "we" as a corporate body were praying to Him, but I myself was letting my mind travel halfway across the world, or towards to-do lists, memories, news, or commentaries.
I laugh when I say this, but it was a novel idea for me when I reached college to start praying with my eyes open.
Yes, yes, I can hear the collective gasp.
But really? The question I have to ask myself is: what do I need to do in order to give more than just my "head" prayers to God, and to start giving him "heart" prayer?
Head prayers, to me, are the ones where you can sit with a friend or a group of people--you know this already--and pray the phrases or requests you know need to be brought up in order to sound semi-intelligible and string a decent sentance together, all the time never even once realizing the priviledge or weight of being in the presense of God--in his throneroom.
Am I sounding a little hypocritical? I'm actually being very honest with myself. Head prayers sadly happen far more often than they should. My mind goes on auto-pilot prayer mode, and I forget to engage my heart in converstation with God. A shallow formula, a displeasing "noise" to God who longs to have me present in his throneroom--not just my lips.
So like I said, what do I need to do in order to give God "heart" prayer?
I already mentioned one for myself....opening my eyes at times. There are times when surroundings are a distraction as well, and closing them is a better option. The point is- I want my focus to be on God, whatever the circumstances are. And whatever directs my heart toward Christ-this I will do. Writing prayers is also a good way that I like to keep my prayers focused. This is usually during my quiet time with God.
All the same, there still seems to be a disconnect in my memory when it comes to actually putting "heartful prayer" into practice.
Does anyone have any of their own suggestions as to what has brought their heart close to God in prayer?
I've also heard of people praying for their following conversation time with God right before they have it--that it would be focused and reverent, giving honor to Him.
I guess another question that could arise from this would be, what happens to my supposed "head" prayers before God?
Or is there even such a thing dividing the two? What do you think? Is a prayer a prayer, no matter the degree of heartfelt intention when it is given?