Inspiring Workplaces 
The Way Work Ought to Be!

#1,128- June 10, 2026

We tend to think distractions are always a bad thing but are there times when an intentional distraction is just what the workplace doctor ordered?

When Alfred Hitchcock and his co-writers reached an impasse on a screenplay, Hitchcock would ask everyone to stop focusing on the script and share a story with each other. 

Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing, The Social Network) is known to hop into the shower when he faces writer's block. 

One of my clients has a "Walk It Off" meeting rule - when tensions rise in a meeting, they call a ten-minute timeout and every meeting participant has to go for a walk, alone with their thoughts, before reconvening. 

Another client has a ritual in their meeting where they squeeze a squeaking rubber chicken to signal it's time for an official "humor break" - either when tensions have risen, or when the group has hit a wall brainstorming.

According to Harvard University psychology researcher Shelley H. Carson, distractions can be beneficial in three ways:

1. Distractions offer different and more stimulus leading to greater creativity.

2. Distractions push aside mental debris and help our minds zero in on a solution because the decision-making part of our brains is still active while we're distracted by something else. (You've experienced this if you've ever put down the crossword puzzle in frustration over a clue, only to easily solve it an hour later.)
 

3. Distractions can improve moods. Carson's research found that when people are distracted they notice more things, their minds open up, and their overall moods substantially improve.