TED Magazine - May 2017

SPECIFIC, ROUTINE ASSIGNMENTS, EXCLUDING disruptions and intrusions, should be fairly easy tasks. Diligently writing sales proposals, completing expense reports, devel- oping budgets, and listening to product training presentations are perfunctory requirements for any sales position. Nevertheless, it is not uncommon to hear com- plaints about wandering minds or distractions that lead to totally irrelevant thoughts with no apparent, productive outcomes. However, being frequently distracted is only part of the problem, according to theorists: Once interrupted, it can take up to 23 minutes to fully return to the origi- nal task. The office environment is a battlefield for focus control. Studies of office surroundings indicate that employee distractions are most often caused by co-workers, particularly in an open-plan design. Additionally, Sue Shellenbarger’s 2013 Wall Street Journal article “The Biggest Office Interrup- tions Are…” pointed out that people in cubicles are inter- rupted 29% more often than employees who occupy offices. Correspondingly, work- related error rates sky- rocket following interrup- tions. Writing for The Wall Street Journal in 2012, Rachel Emma Silverman noted that workplace dis- tractions in 2010 cost busi- nesses $1 trillion in lost productivity. One’s inability to retain focus on the simplest of issues has been an enigma for centuries. Fundamen- tal causes, such as increas- ing use of digital technol- ogy, multitasking, and poor organizational skills, have been unsatisfactorily offered as explanations. That’s not to say that prog- ress to identify sources of distractions hasn’t been made; but reliable, broadly applicable, and effective solutions have yet to be confidently prescribed. Myriad distractions can frustrate attempts to concentrate—the most startling being loud noises and flashing lights. Strobing red and blue beams immediately divert one’s attention to their sources (e.g., a fire truck’s emergency light bar). Crashing glass or slamming doors sharply alter one’s thought stream, signaling danger or arousing a sense of fear (the fight-or-flight response). More soothing, yet still distract- ing, may be a familiar melody from the radio or laughter from a child, each offering a “re- ward” (e.g., friendship, parenthood, etc.). In any case, one’s focus may be sacrificed as a result. There are further subversive attention- getters: commonplace, pervasive distrac- tions that invade the mind’s operating sys- tem and furtively replace conscious thoughts (i.e., focus) with unintended thoughts. Like a computer, the mind is continually gathering and storing information, data, feelings, and emotions below the conscious level, and when triggered, they can momentarily hijack and overtake one’s intended concentration. Often, without notice, this memory bank is sufficiently aroused that it triggers a response mechanism from the senses’ storage unit, which, in turn, activates an alternate focus. Such things as boredom, disinterest, burnout, stress, and a sense of being unappreciated can weaken or block one’s abil- ity to stay mentally en- gaged. These competing stimuli challenge the brain to determine which input is most deserving. Even with- out an immediate demand for attention, thoughts can wander to worries and con- cerns or to illusions that distort the recollected accu- racy of actual experiences used as references for pro- spective decisions. The “Being Engaged” Challenge A 2014 New York Times article by Tony Schwartz and Christine Porath (“Why You Hate Work”) points out that according n Brooks Utility Products has selected EV Smith Sales to serve all cus- tomer accounts among investor-owned utilities in Texas and Oklahoma. The company also works with Brooks’s network of distributors to serve the public power market in the region. n Lighting Systems now reps Hubbell Lighting throughout Northern California. n McDonald Associates has been selected to rep Federal Signal’s Safety and Security Systems Group in Northern Illinois, the Chicagoland Area, and Northwest Indiana. n Midwestern Electrical Sales now reps Priority Wire & Cable in Ohio. n Osterman Fox and Associates now reps Appleton and O-Z/Gedney in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. n Madison Electric Prod- ucts has selected Phoenix Sales and Marketing as its rep in Maryland; Wash- ington, D.C.; and the north- ern counties of Virginia.