Can I get your attention? Understanding Distraction
One of the most interesting questions during the first ORPC (Off-Road Motorcycle Club) ride came from a tired pilot at the end of the second morning. He complained that he could not maintain focus when examining his riding skills and behaviour because he was often distracted. He was asking why we become victims of distraction and what we can do to resist it.
First, it’s important to define “distraction.” In Latin-based languages, this word is sometimes confused with “destruction.” Distraction refers to something that diverts our attention (from the Latin “dis” meaning “apart” and “trahere” meaning “to draw”). (1)
When something or someone draws our attention away from what we are doing, listening to, watching, or thinking about, our mind and body become attracted to something that requires priority. The Latin root “trahere” (to draw or pull) plays a big role in related words like “distraction,” “attraction,” “track,” “traction,” and “tractor.”
Reality constantly sends signals captured by our senses and transformed into attractive messages. Mental Tractors, attractions and distractions are always around the corner.
Our brain selects the level of attraction, giving priority to the signals that guarantee correct performance, safety, and pleasure.
When riding a motorcycle, we constantly scan the environment and receive a large quantity of these signals. Our experience, education, and training then select and organize the signals to produce a smooth, systematic, and relatively safe riding plan.
However, reality is never that simple. “Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans.”
Even now, in a seemingly ideal writing environment with the right tools and focus, unexpected distractions can arise, like a vibrating phone. At that point, we have a choice: ignore the distraction and continue writing, or give in to the impulse to check the phone. Giving in can lead us to lose our train of thought and derail our original purpose.
The root of distraction often lies in a lack of strong desire or meaning behind our actions. If we are not fully invested in the task at hand, we become more vulnerable to distractions. Boredom and a sense of meaninglessness can open the door to distraction.
Similarly, while riding, maintaining high vision and constant scanning requires trained discipline that comes from repetition and experience. If we stop scanning and lower our vision, something “unusual, attractive, or alarming” can easily catch our eye, leading to target fixation and a disruption in our systematic riding process. Distraction while in motion can have dramatic consequences.
In conclusion, some of the key reasons we are affected by distraction include:
1. Ignorance about the “why” and “how” of our actions
2. Trying to multitask or pursue multiple objectives without prioritization
3. Focusing on others’ reactions and seeking approval
4. Allowing large visions to become target fixation
5. Boredom coming from lack of meaning
6. Physical conditions like tiredness, vision problems, or substance use
Understanding the roots of distraction is the first step in developing the discipline to resist it, both in our daily tasks and in high-stakes activities like motorcycle riding.
It would be instructive to get the pilot’s reactions from this first step into the problem of DISTRACTION: we plan to extend this initial consideration to produce some useful methods to resist and correct distractions.
1) Destruction, on the other hand, is the act of ruining or demolishing something (from the Latin “de” meaning “down” and “struere” meaning “to build”).
