It is unfortunate that the typical human mind can be distracted so very easily.  Our minds tend to wander.  We might be thinking about the date or event that we have tonight, the hockey game that we are going to this weekend with our friends, the vacation plans we are making, or the argument that we had with our significant other last night.  When at work, our minds can wander.  And this can especially be prevalent when we are doing a task we have done a thousand times before or when we are transiting from location to location.

Brain science is at work in these moments as our brains try hard to “automate” as many tasks as possible so that it can conserve energy and maybe even do something else.  When we have gained enough proficiency in a task our minds often will put that task on autopilot, freeing up energy and attention to do something else.  Think about the first time you started to drive a vehicle.  You were no doubt very focused on the task, and hypervigilant about the pedals, the speed, the lane positioning and the traffic around you.  You likely didn't have the radio playing and you certianly weren't talking to the passengers or on the phone.  You were very mentally engaged in the task.  But fast forward a few years and with all that experience driving under your belt you have more confidence and are much more comfortable behind the wheel.  Highway speeds don't bother you and yor are comfortable in single lane highways as well as divided highways.  And by now you are listening the radio, singing along and talking to your friends and passengers in the vehicle.  Your brain has adapted and “automated” the act of driving.  A wonderful gift no doubt.

This automation process happens with the work that we do as well, which is why we need to reinforce the idea of keeping our minds on our task at hand.  We think we can do both, our work task and think about the hockey game tonight.  But then we are surprised when something unexpected happens at work and we are unable to anticipate or repsond accordingly and someone gets hurt.  There are many post-incident statements from people  that talk about how the unexpected happened that they weren’t ready for but also they describe that they were thinking about other things as opposed to the task immediately at hand.

When you realize that we are fighting an evolutionary adaptation the discussion about “mind on task” is not an admonition directed towards anyone, but simply a reinforcement that brain science is working against us and so we need to remind ourselves about this risk and take the proper precautions.  It is also an opportunity for inviduals to refocus and to even self-identify that they are dealing with some personal stuff and need to be reassigned for the day because their minds are preoccupied with other things.