“Every time we are on the phone, you are always doing something else at the same time.”
He was right, of course, but that fact wasn’t necessarily something I was trying to hide (or at least not trying really hard to hide.)
Buss Brauer is a friend, colleague, and mentor, and someone with whom I talk frequently, typically over the phone. As a person who is blind and a Baby Boomer (the latter having the greater significance), Buss prefers the audio queues hidden in a verbal conversation to the interpretations derived from text messages or emails.
The phone is our daily communication medium as it serves as the conduit connecting us from his office in Kansas to mine in Pittsburgh.
Like typical Americans, I am often restless and preoccupied, feeling distracted by everything around me. As I am writing his post, I am pausing to read new emails that recently arrived or to look out the window at the person walking her dog.
“That is one of your biggest flaws, and fortunately for me, not one I have to deal with,” Buss said, after acknowledging he could hear me typing despite my thinking I was typing too quietly for the phone to pick up on it.
“The visual distractions are all around you, all the time. Every time we are on the phone, you are always doing something else at the same time. Whether it is driving, typing, cleaning up your office, checking your phone, or watching the cars go by outside, I never have your full and complete attention.”
The “visual distractions,” as Buss called them, were all around me. I was obviously aware of the most blatant, such as emails or keeping my eyes on the road. Though I had not considered something as innocent as looking out the window to be a distraction.
“Try something for me,” Buss said. “Put everything down, sit in your chair and close your eyes. Keep them closed for the rest of this call.”
I did as he asked, and for the first time gave him my undivided attention.
“What you are doing now is what I am forced to do all the time. I see no visual distractions, and am consequently not affected by them. All of my energy and effort is focused on one thing at a time, which at the moment is this conversation.
“It is a bit linear, but then so are our brains. We as people are not wired to multitask, despite what people say. Our brains can literally not do two things at once. Some people have the ability to toggle back and forth between two things more quickly than others, but you can only absorb one external task at a time.
I knew Buss was correct, as I have been closing my eyes since my 6th grade math class in order to concentrate harder and fully commit my mind to the problem at hand. I just hadn’t thought of the world as being a conglomeration of “visual distractions” that were taking my focus off the task, or conversation, at hand.
The concept of closing one’s eyes to better focus is thus not revolutionary. What struck me as profound is the inherit advantage a person who cannot see has compared to someone who can in terms of the ability to concentrate and be present in the moment.
I recalled Buss also indicating that a meeting in person and a meeting over the phone were “the same to me” because he couldn’t see me either way. Nothing would change for him by meeting in person.
The amount of time I spend in the car, and ask others to spend in the car, simply because we all believe an in-person meeting is more effective than any other medium is incredible. Have we ever stopped to think about why that is?
When I am in front of a person, looking at him, I know I have his full attention. He won’t check emails or text messages, won’t get up and start walking around the room to clean up things, and won’t try to have conversations with people outside the meeting who happen to walk by.
What he will do is focus, take notes, ask relevant questions, and absorb much more information than he would if we were virtually assembled.
Imagine if we were able to harness that laser-like focus in all aspects of our lives. If we did not have to rely on face-to-face gatherings to ensure maximum productivity.
Alcoholics Anonymous famously cited the first step towards correcting a problem is admitting the existence of one. While the concept of closing your eyes in order to concentrate is not new, perhaps the acknowledgement of the visual distractions that surround us is.
Eliminating the diversions and attending fully to your current purpose with the same methodical focus a person who is blind uses in every facet of life can work wonders. Perhaps doing so will help us regain the hours in the day and allow time for what is most meaningful in life.
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