Focus

"Sharply focused adults may be effective in doing the job fast and efficiently. It may also be a trap by itself keeping the person inside a boring non dynamic scene. However, the roaming thinkers may provide out of the box and creative ideas that may be overlooked by the other group. They both need each other. But of course, the person who is able to master both kinds of minds may be in a better position to work under any circumstance and with any kind of partner available at that instant. This balanced kind of person may be the  type that may notice that a huge part of the human family is suffering, can temporarily put his personal interest on hold, understand the problems, contribute to the solutions by alerting other busy people to work on those ignored global problems."

With poor control of the roaming mind, a person's thoughts tend to wander into other things not so related to the topic at hand. There may even be too many external distractions. If there are no distractions and this still happens. It is either that individual really needs to rest or sleep to help re-organize his thoughts or he has a serious attention deficit.

In contrast a mind that is extremely focused can almost never be distracted.

We can help the normal child by giving them subtle cues to return to the topic or maybe ask the same question in a different way that his type of mind can understand. Some kids will understand abstract concepts if you use pictures to illustrate what is being discussed. The kinetic type of thinker probably would understand ideas if it is demonstrated with their physical involvement. Get her or someone in front of the class to demonstrate the idea. Games such as "Charades" may be helpful. Highlighting methods may help. Teach the kid a simple gesture of maybe temporarily using her hands (only when needed and highly distracted) to cover the sides of her vision to help her redirect focus while paying attention. Closing windows and doors to avoid distracting lights and sounds may also do the trick if really necessary. A spot light in a dark room could really help direct anyone's attention.  Use positive reinforcements. You may use short and consistent or regular schedules. Minimize time with the television for entertainment but go watch if those are educational programs.

Stages and screens are like windows. Make sure you are only looking out those windows if your attention in the real world is not needed at that moment. Your focus may not roam within the day, but it may roam around within the span of years. So you can also be gradually distracted especially if you do not have long term goals or deep foresight. Foresight is also discussed somewhere in the blog.

Do the same for older children and adults. Do not allow your thoughts and attention to roam back to dwell on your enslaving biases and addictions.

Sharply focused adults may be effective in doing the job fast and efficiently. It may also be a trap by itself keeping the person inside a boring non dynamic scene. However, the roaming thinkers may provide out of the box and creative ideas that may be overlooked by the other group. They both need each other. But of course, the person who is able to master both kinds of minds may be in a better position to work under any circumstance and with any kind of partner available at that instant. This balanced kind of person may be the  type that may notice that a huge part of the human family is suffering, can temporarily put his personal interest on hold, understand the problems, contribute to the solutions by alerting other busy people to work on those ignored global problems. Once the attentions of ordinary people are directed to where they should be, then we can prioritize and work on one problem at a time collectively while making sure that all the possible solutions are considered and implemented as necessary until the problem is contained. If we can do that as a specie, then we are well on our way to humanity's bold and bright future. Maybe there is also a way to change our limited focus to a near 360 degree type of situational awareness. If that is too much, then maybe at least the examples for activities for the child mentioned above may be a good starting point. Regardless we are always open to brighter ideas.