I saw an advertisement for a car the other day that made me wonder. It said that if you want directions to the stadium, “push here”. If you want to listen to music, “push here”. And if you want to do this, “push here”. Of course, I had to add... if you just want to drive the fracking car safely, don’t push anything.
The technology that our society has developed in the last 30 years is astounding. It has brought us convenience that we could have only imagined in science fiction novels. I mean, the ability to be in touch wherever we are, the medical technology, GPS. It is all just amazing. But it has brought with it distraction.
Technology is great even if it keeps changing almost overnight. But how we deal with it is more important. All too often, we let the distraction of a certain piece of technology take our attention causing us to lose focus on what we are doing.
Cell phones and driving are a good example of this. I remember seeing a car driving along side of me on a road when it started raining. The driver was talking on her phone while holding it to her ear with one hand. (This is by far the worst possible circumstance as it keeps the driver’s head from moving and seeing the traffic.) The other hand was on the steering wheel. Well, it started raining. She had one hand on her phone and the other on the steering wheel. She did not have a free hand to turn on the wipers, so she didn’t. She just drove down the road with her wipers off.
Now, a lot of people would say that we should ban cell phone use in the car. But it has been proven that using a hands-free device is no more distracting than having people in the car with us, and in many cases, less so as we don’t turn our heads to look at the people we are talking to. In fact most phones allow someone to receive calls from the headset, and many phones allow people to place calls from the headset simply by talking into it.
The point is that we need to be smart and look at what is important. We need to focus on the important and not let the interruption take center stage. And yes, it is easier said than done.
With technology giving us tons of information in moments, and our brains having to decipher it, it is hard to wade through the garbage and pay attention to what is important. We constantly are thinking about more than one thing at a time. We multi-task. We need to focus on the important. And obviously driving a motor vehicle safely is more important than talking on the phone.
We run a constant balance of all the things we are thinking of and doing at one time. It is like trying to walk and chew gum at the same time. And as silly as that sounds, we do a lot more than that in almost every moment.
In moments of distraction we need to take a second and reset priorities and focus. Pause for a second and take a deep breath to clarify and calm (ask the person on the phone to hold on while you do it). Close your eyes and count to 10 (if you are not driving a car at the time). Take a second and look at all the things you are doing and make sure that the most important one has the majority of your concentration and make sure that this amount of concentration is enough to perform the task properly (especially if that task could kill you, or others).
Away from the madness, there are things you can do to help concentration when you get overloaded. Do meditation to find a calming center and clear pathways of unnecessary thoughts. Go for walks where you have time to clear your mind and think clearly.
Remember, when distractions happen, the most important thing that needs your concentration is the one that keeps you alive. Make sure you keep that in the forefront and separate the less important things. Focus on safety first. Be smart in how you handle your distractions. Drop some when they become too much. Breathe.