I was shopping for groceries yesterday in an unfamiliar store. Since my husband was waiting for me in the car for me to 'just run in' for three items, I wanted to hurry. Unfortunately not knowing where the items were located, did nothing to hasten my search.
I found two items and was looking for the third. As I passed by another shopper, she said, 'I guess I just can't find those Fritos.' As it would happen, I was directly across from them and I pointed them out for her. Then I said, 'I must have overlooked the Cheeseballs.' She pointed to a huge stack of them out in the main area. We laughed at the way our focus had not been in the desired place, but were thankful that we were able to help each other.
This incident brought to mind how our focus on some things prevents our finding something we need to know. Sometimes our focus is interfered with by other thoughts that keep cropping up, much like my desire to hurry interfered with my looking in other areas than I assumed for that remaining item. Luckily, someone helped me get back on track. So I suppose we need a plan for how to maintain focus when doing tasks, and may need to identify what interferes with our focus.