Talent

Last night, Krissa and I had this conversation whilst shopping for a housewarming gift for the freshly-apartmented Biscuit.

Stuart: I think these flowers were the best ones anyway. We made a good call.
Krissa: Oooh! Cookies!
Stuart: You are the most easily distracted person in the-
Krissa: Oooh! Or Cake!
Stuart: - world.

I think that the ability to be distracted, or, in the worst cases, the ability to distract yourself, is a function of a number of things.

(Ah...viewing life as analogous to functions. No matter what I do with the rest of my life, I will always have been an engineering student, and some ideas will stick)

First, propensity for distraction has to be linked to the enthusiasm to whatever it is you are distracted from. Whether it is your enthusiasm for buying cookies or your urge to get on with the tasks your boss gave you to do today, the higher the enthusiasm, the less likely you are to be distracted.
But.
Brains and caffeine. The higher your level of alertness or heightened awareness through stimulants, the more likely you are to notice other things beyond what you are doing. The same goes for general intelligence or observantness. The higher the level of this mental agility, whether inherent or acquired, the more likely you are to get distracted.

(I have my doubts about the validity of 'observantness'. Let's go for...say....visual acuity. Still not right, but by now I'm sure you know what I mean.)

Before nipping over to the factors which lessen the propensity for distraction, let's consider will and character. Characteristically if you are a determined, methodical person with the will to do what you are doing then you are less likely to become interested in something else. If you are the kind of person that doesn't like to be bogged down but enjoys skipping from task to task (keeping all the plates spinning, as it were) then distraction, and the ability to apply yourself intermittently to a range of tasks be they industrious or frivolous, is necessary.

Urgency and focus. Deadlines produce a marvellous focus and intensity in the mind, don't they? The opposite is also true.

I'm not quite sure where all this is going, to be entirely honest with you. I was amused by Krissa's flitting around the store last night, and I was building up to making some deep and meaningful point. Then I was going to sum up by crediting all you workaday blog readers with above average intelligence, but I've lost my way a little by considering things too deeply.

This should lead you to your own conclusions.

So...er...who's up for a drink this evening?