All this is a distraction from the task of making the south of Kazakhstan more secure.

ECONOMIST: Kazakhstan: In defence | The

But they may also come to be seen by recession-weary Venezuelans as yet another distraction from the task that Mr Chavez has shied away from: putting the country's moribund economy back on its feet.

ECONOMIST: Venezuela

Indeed Mr Mendonca de Barros's swift departure was welcomed by markets as the removal of a distraction from the legislative task at hand.

ECONOMIST: Crossed lines in Brazil

Iraqi newspapers also attacked the Saudi plan as a distraction from the real task of getting the embargo lifted unconditionally, and called on Saudi citizens to overthrow their government.

ECONOMIST: Dealing with Iraq

We've pulled together a handful of luxurious sofas and lounge chairs that masquerade as intimate micro cubicles, theaters and reading nooks depending on the task or distraction at hand.

WSJ: 21st-Century Reading Chairs

The Journal talked to Gloria Mark, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, who says it can take 23 minutes for a worker to get back to the task at hand after a distraction.

FORBES: How To Overcome Workplace Distraction

But some alumni criticized the task force as a "distraction" from what they consider the most pressing issue: accepting responsibility for decades of alleged abuse students suffered at the hands of a football coach Philip Foglietta between 1966 and 1981, which is currently the subject of a federal lawsuit brought by nine plaintiffs.

WSJ: Abuse Claims Roil School

Evil enough in itself as a way of providing some legal cover for the perpetuation of military rule, administering it (and presumably fixing the outcome) is now a distraction from what should be the army's main task: saving lives.

ECONOMIST: Cyclone in Myanmar

Schedule distraction-free periods on your calendar, during which you can fully attend to one task at a time.

CNN: A New Year's resolution for the workplace