Early this morning, I was to cook my breakfast. I thought of cooking egg, so, from the living room, I went to the kitchen. For a few seconds, along the way from living room to the kitchen, I thought of my meeting, which was about to start in 30 minutes, so I computed in my mind how fast I should eat. As soon as I realized I’m in the kitchen, I came back to my self and stared at the surroundings. I forgot why I was there. I had to ask my wife what I needed to do in the kitchen.

Short-term memory loss or ulyanin is what we would normally call it. Labelling is not, however, my purpose for writing this. I want to talk about how we sometimes do things in autopilot. This has happened to you, right? You take a bath without being mindful, the next thing you know is you are already dressed up and ready to go. This is our brain working on the subconscious.

The brain is like a computer, it programs our routine, if it detects that we are doing a routine, it switches on autopilot mode. There is no problem with the autopilot. However, it is important to be aware that being in autopilot can affect our productivity and decision-making. Countless of information have been recorded on people making errors in their decision because of the autopilot mode. There was this video of a man who walks into a closed door and bumps his head. Someone who is not in autopilot will see the reflection and will notice that there is a glass door in front.

It is good to have a routine but living a life on a routine may not be that fun. Here are some of my suggestions to get off the autopilot mode:

1. Have a goal everyday.

2. Use a different route on the way to work.

3. Take a mindfulness pause during the day just to breath

4. Do not eat the same thing everyday.

5. Call a friend

6. Do one thing at a time. So have a notebook beside you always to keep your thoughts.

There are countless of ways to get out of the autopilot mode. As soon as you catch yourself on that mode, stop, tell yourself that you need to be more mindful. That is also another clue that you are doing many things at the same time.

I normally read my work email in the morning to jumpstart my workday. This is also the habit of many people I know. However, A few minutes into reading my mail, I would catch myself browsing Facebook or window shopping. I bet this happens to you, too.

Being distracted is a normal phenomena specially now that there are numerous visuals trying to catch our attention: pop ups, text message, alerts and more. This is common in today’s world but takes away a part of our daily goals and affects our bigger goals.

First, why do we get distracted easily? According to LIVE SCIENCE, “Distractions turn on different part of our brains and do so more quickly than the daily grind of paying attention, neuroscientists have discovered.” Now we know why something glittery attracts our attention so fast.

How can we maintain productive when we are surrounded by distractions?

Have you seen a good magic trick before in person? The magician shows you a sponge ball and makes it disappear in front of your eyes and all there is left to say to explain the mystery is that the hand is quicker then the eye. Are the hands really quicker than the eye? Unfortunately, a magician never repeats and never reveals.

The sponge ball is like your daily goals or tasks, it just disappears without you noticing it. Those pop ups, social media alerts and discount notification are the magician’s hand gestures, and backup dancers that drive you away from where you need your attention to be. No, the hand isn’t quicker than the eye. In fact, the magician’s hands are slow but it can hypnotize you the way those discount notice leads you to your shopping cart.

Magic is my hobby, I should have a few ideas about focus and attention management. In my corporate lectures, I use what I know about magic and it’s science to talk about focus, attention and productivity.

We all get distracted. Like I said, it’s normal, the good thing though is there are ways to increase our productivity while being surrounded by distractions. We are already half the battle as we have already recognized that we can be distracted from where our attention should be.

Here are the other tips to manage attention:

1. Control your environment. Be in a place where there is less noise. Since many are WFH, we can inform the people around us about our work schedule but if distractions can’t be avoided, most likely, they are not distractions, they are family.
2. Use an analogue planner. I use pen and paper, this takes away time from using to much screen and avoids unnecessary exposure to temptation. I spend a few minutes planning the day, listing things on the list as well as crossing finished tasks.
3. Compose email on paper. Yes! Do your draft on paper. This takes away exposure on screen. Once you have your thoughts listed down, it’s going to be faster on screen.
4. Manage your thoughts. Brains are made to wander, that’s the beautiful thing about being human. Some people will say control your thoughts but I think we can’t, we can manage our thoughts by acknowledging it’s presence, and keeping note of it while we refocus back to our goal.

Focus and attention can be a tricky matter. when it comes to magic, allow magicians to take control because our main goal when watching magic show is to be astonished and not to solve a puzzle. At work, we can focus on our attention management strategies so we can remain productive.

Just today, I was thinking of a work problem. I have tirelessly tried to find solutions online and endless discussions with colleagues, but to no avail. I just stopped, sat, and remained idle and let my mind wander without thinking about the problem. Moments after, aha! Finally, a solution! The solution came to me after a period of idleness. Yes, IDLENESS, modern man’s cultural sin.

Idleness has a bad connotation. It is associated with laziness, sloth and nonproductive, in a society obsessed with goals, productivity and work. This is something we learned from the society we grew up in. Countries even measure its success based on the output of its people so it is easy to conclude that our value is based on what we create, give or provide.

I think there is value to a reasonable amount of idleness, it can bring light bulb moments and allow a refreshing pause.

There are numerous articles and studies linking idleness to creativity such as this: “My most creative moments come when my brain is allowed to rest,” says Megan King, a graphic designer for the architecture and engineering firm exp Global Inc. As a designer, King is expected to come up with new, compelling ideas all the time. “Sometimes I’ll spend all day working on a project and I’ll feel that I never quite created something that I’m really happy with,” King says. “I’ll get a good night’s sleep and [the next day], get something done in 15 minutes that is more innovative.” Bertrand Russell even wrote an article called In Praise of Idleness. One of his ideas there is a 4-hour workday to allow people time to explore their other passions to create. He hopes that this idea of working less will bring happiness to people.

Idleness is not a devil’s playground, as what we have all learned from the past. Idleness brings forth not just creativity but also rest. Yes, we can be idle for idleness sake or for pleasure. Pleasure is an ancient idea, “Aristotle celebrated the value of leisure as a cornerstone of intellectual enlightenment. He believed that true leisure involves pleasure, happiness, and living blessedly. It is more than mere amusement and is impossible for those who must work most of the time.”

Yes, a decent amount of idleness and pleasure is something we all need. It is time to reassess our belief that idles is bad. The quarantine has gifted us with less travel, and more available time. Having idle time should not make us feel guilty instead, those moments should be reserved to recharge and allow the mind to wander.

Source:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-human-beast/202001/the-secret-power-idleness

https://www.jsonline.com/story/life/green-sheet/advice/philip-chard/2018/11/30/idle-reflections-value-doing-nothing/2123705002/