Have you ever driven the same route to work so many times you arrive at your office without even remembering the drive there?  Ever sat in a seminar or team meeting and found your mind wandering?

 

Our ability to go on "auto pilot" when a situation becomes routine is a function of the part of our brain called RAS - the Reticular Activation System.  Located at the base, it is the part of our brain that keeps us sane... well, mostly sane, anyway.  Without our RAS, everything we smelled, heard, saw, felt, and noticed in any given moment would come into the brain with equal importance... in essence, driving us crazy!   The RAS works as a filter for all of the stimuli we receive through our senses and drives to the forefront of our awareness only the things it deems important for us to know now.  All other information is kept in the background. 

 

It's the RAS that tells us we can daydream and it will let us know if anything occurs that needs our immediate attention.  So when, on our drive to work, a car runs the stoplight at an intersection... the RAS notices in a millisecond and jerks us back into the present... keeping us on our toes.  And when, at the monthly staff meeting, your teammates file into the reception area or team lounge like ants in line at a picnic and you announce that you'll be meeting outside in the courtyard or down at the park or at local business or the top floor of the nearest high-rise... the RAS sense something different and puts them on full alert!