[hyperion2010]

I have had a long standing suspicion that the proposed attentional mechanism is the same reason why nagging someone almost never actually helps get something done, because it shifts their attention away from the actual activity and toward a negative social interaction.

Far better to restructure the environment so that the person can get the work done. In the case of traffic deaths we have really good data that says that you should change the structure of streets and roads so that people instinctively drive safely.

[rolph]

1] never nag some one to do something, while also expecting them to abandon doing something that was previously nagged about.

2] when some one shifts focus to do something, and is nagged to do exactly that thing, the chance of it being done, with quality, or at all, will approach zero.