"You must have walked through a doorway," is a line frequently used around our house. Since hearing about the "Doorway Effect," a study completed at the University of Notre Dame in 2011 , this has become our go-to reason for forgetting things. To simplify what I'm sure was a complicated study, cognitive scientists found that people tend to forget things when they walk through a doorway. It happens to me all the time.

I am in my office. Need to get my checkbook from my purse in the other room. I get up, walk to the kitchen, look around, and for the life of me can't remember what I am doing there. I usually end up pouring myself a cup of coffee, which makes me want to grab a cookie, and...if you give a mouse a cookie--well, you know the story.

Eventually I end up back in my office, and when I get back to my work, I realize I don't have my checkbook. With a little curse word under my breath, I get up once again and head to the kitchen--hoping this time I can retain the information in my now-caffeinated and sugared brain long enough to accomplish the task I've set out to do.

This phenomenon had a name...the "doorway effect."

I was relieved to find there was a reason for my brain lapses, proven by science in a study with subjects and data and statistics and all. I wasn't suffering from early Alzheimer's, or late-onset ADD. This phenomenon had a name...the "doorway effect." Anyway, that's my story, and I'm sticking with it.

Lately, my mental status has come into question again. I've noticed a new problem, and I think researchers should look more closely at what I've deemed: the "red bubble effect." This is now happening to me every day, frequently, and is even more commonplace in my life than doorways. It happens when I'm on my phone. On my laptop. Anywhere I might get a notification, a red bubble, or a number in "( )."

Imagine the scenario (which shouldn't be too hard for many of you, as I think this condition is quite prevalent): my husband and I are driving along in the car, talking about whether tomorrow would be a good day for a bike ride. He asks "what's the weather s'posed to be?" Since I have the handy little weather app available at the touch of a finger, I click on my phone. That's when I see them. The red bubbles. The "2" in the red bubble on my text app tells me I could potentially have a child somewhere with an emergency, or a friend getting back to me about meeting for coffee. The "17" in the red bubble on my Facebook app tells me my mother-in-law has found my latest post and is "liking" every photo. The "9" in the red bubble on my email tells me I probably have 8 new pieces of junk mail, and maybe one "real" message from someone I care about. I am about to walk through 28 virtual doorways!

We drive along in silence for the next few minutes while I make my red bubbles disappear. I delete 8 junk emails, and reply to my sisters' thread about the upcoming anniversary party for my parents. This reminds me I need to add some items for the party to my grocery list app, which I take a minute to do. I check all my Facebook notifications, and "like" everyone's comments, reading some to my husband for his amusement. I reply to my daughter's text about her upcoming recital, check my calendar and discuss it with my husband. I set up a coffee date with my friend, which reminds me of cookies (of course), and I realize I haven't tracked my food in "Fitness Pal" today. As I'm entering my Greek yogurt for breakfast, a Facebook message pops up from my son who wants to know what I'm doing tomorrow. I reply "Dad and I might go for a bike ride..." and then, BAM! It hits me. I need to check the weather!

I'm afraid the "red bubble effect" is a far worse problem for this generation than the "doorway effect" was for the last. There simply are fewer doorways to walk through than there are red bubbles to interrupt one's thought processes.

One more illustration..if I can hold your attention through your own distractions just a few minutes longer. This evening I sit down at my laptop, ready to Google something very pressing. But what was it? Darn. There's Facebook...better check in. Cute baby, nice haircut, sad death of another pop music icon, political projections... Now WHAT was I looking for? Urrrgggg. There's my email...check, delete, reply. What WAS it? Drat! Stare at computer screen. Did I walk through a doorway or something?No. That's when it occurred to me that screens and notifications and red bubbles are much like doorways. Hey, maybe I should write about that. Yeah!Let's do it! Open blog...click "new post." Go.

...ultimately we are learning to juggle the bubbles and use today's technology to transform our goals, our hopes, and our dreams into reality.

So yeah, that's where this post came from. I can't say I've been planning and researching and organizing my ideas for this post for months. Quite the opposite. It came from a place of forgetfulness and distraction. It came from a mind pulled in so many directions it didn't remember which way it was going. Does this mean that the "red bubble effect" can ultimately end in productivity? Actually...maybe it can! I like the way Tom Stafford explains how our brains work in his BBC article: "The way our attention moves up and down the hierarchy of action is what allows us to carry out complex behaviours." My unproven theory is that our productivity may be broken and disorganized with momentary pauses as we search to recall what the heck we were doing, but ultimately we are learning to juggle the bubbles and use today's technology to transform our goals, our hopes, and our dreams into reality.

I just discovered there is now something called "interruption science" (who knew? ). As this area of research grows, I'm sure we'll be hearing much more about how we can manage our technological "doorways" and distractions of the future. At the same time, it's good to keep it all in perspective. I would be remiss if I didn't mention this lovely post by Ann Voskamp which reminds me I still need to find time to put all distractions aside, to pay attention, and to focus on what really matters in life.

You might wonder if I ever remembered why I sat down at my laptop and you'll be glad to know I did. As I began writing my post, our almost-grown kitten started scratching at the doorway (yes, the doorway!) from the porch. He had been coughing a horrible-sounding cough earlier, and I was concerned it might be a hairball. I didn't want him puking it up on the kitchen floor so I closed the porch door (leaving it open just a crack) to keep him outside. This being our first long-haired cat, we don't have much experience with hairballs, so I thought "I'll Google it." I sat down at my laptop, and...well...you know the rest of the story.

Doorways, distractions, and little red bubbles