To distract is to take someone’s attention away from what they are doing or thinking about. It can be done on purpose or by accident.
From Latin 'distrahere' meaning 'to draw apart, separate', from 'dis-' and 'trahere' meaning 'to pull'. It originally referred to pulling in different directions, then to a mind pulled away from focus.
Your attention is like a spotlight, and distraction is anything that yanks the light sideways. The more directions your mind is pulled in, the dimmer that spotlight gets on what actually matters.
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