Cartoon courtesy of hds-mt.com
When you think of distractions, does your mind immediately go to phone use or to distracted driving? What about distractions at home? During this time of sheltering in place parents are being charged with providing childcare, keeping up with laundry and cleaning, home schooling, AND working from home!
Now try to imagine cooking dinner on the stove, corralling your two kids so they can finish their school work, participating in a mandatory webinar and replying to work emails so you can keep your job. It’s not surprising that you find your kids using the stairs as a jumping platform or that the smoke alarm in the kitchen is bellowing because you walked away from dinner cooking on the stove. These are called near misses when it comes to the many injuries that can happen at home, especially to our children.
Many people think they are great multitaskers, but that is actually a myth. Research demonstrates that trying to split your attention between tasks that require effort and concentration means one or both of them will suffer.
So, what do you do?
Here are just a few tips to help manage your time and prevent serious injuries due to distractions.
- Create a daily schedule with dedicated time for focused work and play
- Commit to working through your emails and IMs in “bursts”, and
- Create a chore chart – get your kids to help with the things they are able to do.
During #NationalTraumaAwarenessMonth, the American Trauma Society, the NJ Trauma Council Injury Prevention Coordinators and @Safe Kids New Jersey remind you that #DistractionsCanBeDeadly. For more information visit: amtrauma.org