No one has escaped the uncertainty and worry of the past 2 years. Many have tried to learn new and better ways of coping, including meditation, mindfulness techniques, or healthy habits. I am always on the lookout for another promising tool to decrease anxiety and increase probability of a more successful week/day/hour. In the past, Editorials about mindfulness and self-care have been published. This one will add one more technique to our Case Management Toolbox. It may not work for everyone, but it can help in some situations.
"Quiet Eye" is a term first proposed by Professor Joan Vickers of Calgary University. To date, Quiet Eye technique has been studied in more than 25 different motor tasks, a number of reviews, and meta-analyses, to research the significance of this phenomenon. The PDF at Spering.Schuetz.CISS.2016.pdf (visualcognition.ca) will direct you to several of the studies on Quiet Eye research.
The concept is deceptively simple: Before you perform an action, you focus your gaze on the salient aspects of your goal (see Box 1). "Quiet Eye" is a technique that has been studied in sports, law enforcement, military, and medical settings; it refers to the amount of time one spends concentrating on a specific "next step" before initiating movement. Noted to reduce anxiety, and even have a sense of slowing things down a bit, this can be used in any situation from before walking into a difficult family's room to presenting a bid to leadership for more case managers added to your department.
Conversely, our eyes may dart around when we are unfocused; research suggests that our eyes are indicative of our focus and how effectively we are using our attentional resources. Consider the golfer who may gaze at the ball before making a putt or the basketball player who stares at the hoop before attempting the free throw. Even in performance of music, previous studies have shown the performer's eye tend to be "quieter" or less active in the moments before that cello, harp, or concert piece (Kageyama, 2022).
The technique has been studied in medicine as well. In 2014, a team of British and Canadian researchers recruited 20 first-year surgical residents and split them into two groups: one group received Quiet Eye training and the other group received traditional technical knot-tying training (Causer et al., 2014).
First, there was a baseline taken of the residents' surgical knot tying. Additional training was given. The traditional residents saw a video of the correct hand movements to tie the knots. The Quiet Eye group not only saw those videos but also received Quiet Eye training, which taught them to focus their gaze on the precise location of the knot before making each loop. This included a video of an expert surgeon utilizing the long, quiet eye gaze with a black circle indicated where the surgeon was looking. The traditional group watched the same video, but in their video, the circle was removed so they saw only the surgeon's hands and suture movements--not where the surgeon was focused (Kageyama, 2022).
The residents went through a few cycles of watching their baseline videos and practicing their knots. The traditional residents got traditional feedback. The Quiet Eye residents received feedback to ensure they employed longer quiet eye gazes.
During a low-anxiety scenario, both groups were about equal in their skill. Then a "high-anxiety" condition was placed on both groups. They were told that the following tests would be calibrated, their performance would be videotaped, and they would be ranked among their peers. In this "high-anxiety" test, those who learned the Quiet Eye technique excelled; the knot-tying skill of the residents in the traditional group declined back to their baseline.
So the next time you anxiously want to "rush into a thing," take a step back to get your thoughts in order, take a few breaths, and quiet your eyes. Those few moments give your brain time to organize itself, rather than getting tied into messy knots at a crucial moment. Whether this is before initiating a rather unpleasant task in a patient room or dealing with a difficult colleague, focus on slowing down. It may be the most important few seconds of the upcoming task.
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