Distracted Attention Causes Fatigue. — The attention of the worker is apt to be distracted not only by recognized dangers, such as burglars, fires, and disease, but also by other transitory things that, involuntarily on his part, take his mind from the work in hand. A flickering light distracts the attention
and causes fatigue, whether we have consciously noticed it or not. Many things are recorded by the senses without one's being conscious of them.
For example, the ceasing of a clock to tick, although we have not noticed that it was ticking. Another example is the effect upon the pulse or the brain of being spoken to when asleep.
The flickering lamp of the chronocyclegraph device is much more fatiguing than the steady lamp of plain cyclegraphs.
Proper Placing of Workers Eliminates Distracted Attention. — Workers must be placed so that they do not see intermittently moving objects out of the corners of their eyes. In the early history of man it was continuously necessary to watch for first evidence of things behind one, or at a distance, in order to be safe from an enemy. From generations of survival of the most fit there have developed human eyes most sensitive to moving objects that are seen out of the corner of the eye. Even civilized man has his attention distracted quickest, and most, by those moving objects that he sees the least distinctly, and furthest to one side from the direction in which he is looking.
The leaf that moves or the grass that trembles may attract the attention where seen "out of the corner of the eye" to a point where it will even cause a start and a great fear.
As an example of the distracting effect of moving objects seen "out of the corner of the eye," try reading a book facing a window in a car where the moving scenery can be seen on each side of the book.
The flitting object will interrupt one, one cannot get the full meaning out of what one is reading — yet if one lays down the book and looks directly at the scenery, the mind can concentrate to a point where one does not see that moving scenery which is directly in front of the eyes.
There is a great difference in this power of sensitiveness of the corners of some workers' eyes from that of others. The first move of Scientific Management is to place and arrange all workers, as far as is possible, in such a position that nothing to distract them will be behind them, and later to see that the eyes of workers are tested, that those whose eyes are most sensitive may be placed accordingly.
This Elimination May Take Place in All Kinds of Work. — The necessity of removing all things which will distract the attention is as great for the brain worker as for the shop or construction worker. All papers that attract the eye, and hence the attention, should be cleaned from the desk, everything except that on which the worker is working. The capability of being distracted by the presence of other things varies in all workers.