In a nutshell... The trouble is, as 'creative types', we have a permanent distraction just a whisker away from over-riding our current activity.
At
much greater length... (Will take a while to wade through.)
Most of us have
learned not to suddenly flip into creative mode whilst driving, crossing a road, etc. But there are times it's a close run thing
Immediate self preservation seems to be a key factor. One of the innate cave-man instincts.
But 'zoning out' when not actively involved in a group conversation isn't at all difficult is it?
Especially if you didn't really want to be there anyway. There may be some embarrassment later when your companions tease you, but if you're lucky the more attuned will just shove a pen and notepad in your hand and carry on around you.
I suspect our instincts are better geared to immediate risk than something a few steps along the thought-chain. So if our brain somehow skips a few links we don't see the danger approaching.
There are physical and tactile
prompts which kick in and help. Most electric kettles now are jug type, with the handle on the side, whereas gas ring kettles have a top handle. Putting a side-handled kettle onto a gas ring will usually
feel 'odd' and trigger a warning in your brain.
I find the side-handled kettle a cumbersome beast to pour compared to the more balanced top-handled version, but I've never been tempted to buy one of the occasional conventional looking top-handled electric kettles. They usually look ugly too, compared to a shiny and smoke blackened 'proper' kettle.
Being a claustrophobe I tend to leave my inner room doors open most of the time anyway so I will
see a cloud of steam drifting by from a forgotten pan, or smell something burning in the oven, or hear the crackle of exploding hard-boiled eggs as the pan boils dry. (Spectacular!) My sense of smell became over-developed as an early warning when I was a baker and still seems hyper-sensitive.
The better you believe you are at multi-tasking the more likely you seem to be to 'drop' one of the inputs if another becomes more fascinating. As an example, take our Fire Brigade's mobile Incident Command Units. Each man in there should never have to deal with more than five 'information inputs' simultaneously.
Five is seen as the normal
practical limit for a human brain to 'juggle' safely. Three is better. (There
are gifted people who can manage seven
for a while, but it's seen an an unacceptable risk. If one of them drops off your mental 'radar' for a while the consequences can be horrific.)
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But I still find myself occasionally putting a bottle of milk away in a cupboard instead of the fridge. Usually without realising until I find it there later.
My jars and bottle on the shelves all have their 'proper place', which helps, but I'm still puzzled as to the whereabouts of a missing tub of drinking chocolate. I
know two came into the bungalow, I
saw them lying side by side in the bottom of the carrier bag, but there's only
one in the store cupboard. I
was rather distracted that day so it's reasonable to guess I put it somewhere else, but I've not found it yet
And yes, I've already checked the bookshelves.
Gyppo