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15 Aug, 2010 - When Distraction Can Equal Disaster in Your Travels |
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15 August, 2010 - When Distraction Can Equal Disaster Picture this.... Last Friday at 10:40am, I was driving down Foveaux Street to the Athena Network's Cappuccino Connection. The event was being held at one of Surry Hills' local cafes, Le Pain Quotidien. Having left my studio later than I would have liked, I was in a rush.... Not having slept well the night before, I woke up feeling like the bottom of the proverbial birdcage and going backwards fast: my printer wouldn't work, I couldn't find an invoice I wanted to pay that day, and a phone call came, just as I was ready to leave my studio. AAARGH!!
"... hmm, is that one spot over there?... darn, it's a driveway... okayyy, let's look a little further... blow it, I just missed that one... let's see what else is around the corner ... did I remember to RSVP to that function next week? ... man, I'm tired... gotta look into those natural sleeping tablets I saw at the chemist last week... gotta look for the remote for my laptop, will need it for next week's presentation... I think I've got a pen and paper around here, should jot that down so I don't forget.... why's it always so hard to find a park around here.... end of road, time to go around the block .......... now why is that idiot tooting me!!" The "idiot" tooting me was trying to tell me that I was driving down the wrong side of the road! With my heart racing at the rate of knots, I thanked the driver for alerting me to my near-disaster and slowly made my way back to the right lane. Tired and distracted, I had not been focusing on my driving, which ultimately might have cost me my personal safety! Shaken by the incident, I later Googled what happens to our ability to focus when we are distracted. I found out that our brains have a limited bandwidth, which means that when we're dual-tasking, the brain needs to pull from shared, limited resources, which in turn slows our reaction time down considerably. I couldn't help but see the irony of this situation. I was scheduled to speak on "The 6 Secrets of Safe Travel for Women" at the Athena Network's meeting at Chatswood next Thursday, with one of my main points being that one needs to "Be aware of what is going on around you at all times". And here I was in my own hometown, driving down the wrong side of the road no less!! Moral of the Story: Whether you're crossing the road, driving your car, or traveling the world, it pays to be in the moment. Dual-tasking means that our brains are not 100% engaged in the present task, which will inevitably lead to slow reactions when a situation calls for us to stay alert. This can equal disaster in certain situations. Stay Alert, Stay Safe! I invite you to share your travel or life mishap while being distracted by Clicking Here. It can be a funny story which can make us laugh, or an unfortunate one, which will make us all sit up and take notice. Victoria x Victoria Ugarte is the Founder and Director of Postcards From Millie, a womens travel website. Based in Sydney, Australia, she draws inspiration from the courage of mind and spirit of her muse, Amelia “Millie” Earhart. Victoria spends 3 months out of every year traveling the world and writing about her adventure vacations on her website, keeping her readers posted on exciting destinations, itineraries, travel tips and resources, and challenging women to go beyond their current boundaries so that they may come home to themselves. Look Victoria up on http://www.postcardsfrommillie.com/ |
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