Distractions- Are they all that bad?

 

Yesterday while talking to a friend who was grieving the loss of a loved one, I blurted out, “you need a distraction, something to keep you away from thinking too much.” Under any other circumstances I would not have given it a second thought, but since I have been writing about focus and have pegged ‘distractions’ as some kind of evil, that creates unnecessary complications and acts as an impediment to success; why was I encouraging it? t

Last week I came across the quote, ‘you get what you focus on, so focus on what you want.’ However, life does not go as per our plan. We get swayed, toppled, bounced and sometimes thrown off course. In those times, when we are focusing on why we did not make it, or why does it happen to us, a distraction comes in handy.

A distraction just doesn’t work as an impediment. It acts as an advantage. It helps us move away from the thoughts that are trapping us and can lead us on a path where we can start to hope. Hope is great. It makes one want to go for greater good or good in general. One mustn’t underestimate the power of positivity that hope can bring.

The question then arises, when is a distraction good and when is it bad?

Distraction means something that takes your attention away from what you were thinking about. In the context of driving lessons, there are four types of distractions which lead to accidents on the road

Visual Distraction:-. I remember a particular incident when I started learning driving. As the instructor sat with me to help me navigate the road, I realized there was a temple approaching and I had to pay my respects. It was expected of me and so while driving, I turned my head full 90 degrees towards the temple and my instructor lost his cool. I then realized the importance of focusing ahead.

Auditory Distraction- I am from Delhi and loud music in cars are a sign of our identity. I identify with them. It never registered till the time I started driving the kind of distraction it was causing for the driver.

Manual Distraction- The dare devilry some people are capable of while riding a bike or driving a car to give up manual control of the steering amazes me.

Cognitive Distraction- Using a cell phone, albeit via hands-free is a form of cognitive distraction. Many accidents could have been averted.

But why am I giving a lesson in distraction driving?  The point I am trying to get home is very simple, just as focus requires all senses, distractions also require our senses to be involved, including the most commonly used but not found, ‘common sense’.

There is a whole page dedicated to Distractions on Wikipedia, which goes on to talk about distraction while driving to multitasking, technology, interruption science, battle strategy, etc.  What caught my attention though was Distraction in medicine. It begins by saying how distraction is useful in pain and anxiety.

Distraction therapy for example aims at helping children cope with the painful or difficult procedure. Some distraction techniques used to move attention away from pain, emotional or physical; are counting, music, deep breathing, reading, tapping fingers, fidgeting, walking and talking, exercise, stress balls, journaling, puzzles, etc.

It has also been recommended to keep a ‘Distraction Plan’. This is what I call focus, focus on getting oneself on the path to heal.

Distraction is not bad unless you get focused on distractions. Too much of anything is bad; too much of focus is equally dangerous as is too much distraction. One needs to aim for balance.