It is a profoundly erroneous truism, repeated by all copy-books and by eminent people when they are making speeches, that we should cultivate the habit of thinking of what we are doing. The precise opposite is the case.
Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking of them
Alfred North Whiteheads dictum applies to individual citizens as well as civilizations
It is particularly helpful if, like me, you are chronically absent minded. Mostly just in small ways - gloves & umbrellas. More disastrously - keys & official work passes
And, since chip & pin, debit cards
The rule is to so organise things that, even when distracted, you will just put whatever it is where it is supposed to be & where you can find it again, without you having to think about it
So, only ever have one handbag on the go at once. Be blowed to having one to match each outfit
Try to remember to check new clothes - especially jackets & trousers - for good secure pockets, before you go ahead & buy them (Whoever invented the mans suit was possibly a sufferer. Or a friend of GK Chesterton)
And, please, will somebody soon standardise chip & pin machines so I do not get distracted by working out which way up it goes, the buttons are all in the right place & do not sport an F2 where one of my digits should be, and have displays which I can read, not grey-on-grey invisible unless the light is just right
