--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'm always aware that I risk being taken…" description: "\"I'm always aware that I risk being taken for a neurasthenic prima donna when I explain to someone who wants 'just a little' of my time that five minute..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c6/gail-godwin-13566_distraction_i-m-always-aware-that-i-risk-being-taken_800254.jpg" --- # I'm always aware that I risk being taken for a… ![“I'm always aware that I risk being taken for a neurasthenic prima donna when I explain to someone who wants 'just a little' of my time that five minutes of the wrong kind of distraction can ruin a working day.” quote by Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c6/gail-godwin-13566_distraction_i-m-always-aware-that-i-risk-being-taken_800254.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c6/gail-godwin-13566_distraction_i-m-always-aware-that-i-risk-being-taken_800254.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c6/gail-godwin-13566_distraction_i-m-always-aware-that-i-risk-being-taken_800254.jpg) > “I'm always aware that I risk being taken for a neurasthenic prima donna when I explain to someone who wants 'just a little' of my time that five minutes of the wrong kind of distraction can ruin a working day.” [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A brief, inappropriate distraction can ruin a workday, even if you only have a few minutes. **In simple terms:** Small distractions break focus. Key Takeaway Guard your focus time. Themes productivity distraction time management Mood cautious pragmatic Type advice professional When to use this quote - meetings - email - social media Key Concepts cognitive load boundary setting Questions to Reflect On - How do you identify harmful interruptions? - Can brief breaks improve output? A Different Perspective Not all distractions are harmful; some spark creativity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Distraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distraction/) [Interruptions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interruptions/) [Prima donnas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prima-donnas/) [Risk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/risk/) [Ruins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ruins/) ## Related quotes > [Believe it or not, there are interesting elements in everyone. So, if I can't talk to everybody for at least 7 to 10 minutes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-williams/believe-it-or-not-there-are-interesting-elements-in-everyone-so-if-i/) [Wendy Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-williams/) > [I like to control the risk I take. And when risk is taken out of my hands, it frustrates me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-jorgeson/i-like-to-control-the-risk-i-take-and-when-risk-is-taken-out-of-my/) [Kevin Jorgeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-jorgeson/) > [“To try is to risk failure. But risk must be taken because the greatest hazard of life is to risk nothing. The person who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-buscaglia/to-try-is-to-risk-failure-but-risk-must-be-taken-because-the-greatest/) [Leo Buscaglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-buscaglia/) > [But when no risk is taken there is no freedom. It is thus that, in an industrial society, the plethora of laws made for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/but-when-no-risk-is-taken-there-is-no-freedom-it-is-thus-that-in-an/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [“Risk should be taken for a cause not pleasure, life is not worth to ruin but to live with pride.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zeeshan-ahmed/risk-should-be-taken-for-a-cause-not-pleasure-life-is-not-worth-to/) Zeeshan Ahmed > [To fall in love is a risk but one that must be taken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-fall-in-love-is-a-risk-but-one-that-must-be-taken/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When that happens - when risk is taken and the filmmakers dive into the subject matter without a parachute - very often what you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-ford-coppola/when-that-happens-when-risk-is-taken-and-the-filmmakers-dive-into-the/) [Francis Ford Coppola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-ford-coppola/) > [When you take things for granted you risk them being taken away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-you-take-things-for-granted-you-risk-them-being-taken-away/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“And still, what a risk he'd taken. The woman was like an amateur car bomb: you never knew when she would explode or who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/and-still-what-a-risk-he-d-taken-the-woman-was-like-an-amateur-car/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [During the first period of our lives the greatest danger is not to take the risk. When once the risk has been taken, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/during-the-first-period-of-our-lives-the-greatest-danger-is-not-to/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [“She flashed me a quick black glance and then her dark eyelashes swept down on her cheeks. 'Not me,' she said 'I make my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philippa-gregory/she-flashed-me-a-quick-black-glance-and-then-her-dark-eyelashes-swept/) [Philippa Gregory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philippa-gregory/) > [Of course there are other prima donnas around. So many of my colleagues, younger ones, are wonderful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/montserrat-caballe/of-course-there-are-other-prima-donnas-around-so-many-of-my/) [Montserrat Caballe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/montserrat-caballe/) > [On his refusal to deal with Keith Primeau: We refuse to pay a prima donna, a petulant, pouting player who had 30 goals last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-karmanos-jr/on-his-refusal-to-deal-with-keith-primeau-we-refuse-to-pay-a-prima/) Peter Karmanos, Jr > [There are different rules for comic books now. You've got prima donna's that are dealing with the direct sales market, so if they say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-royer/there-are-different-rules-for-comic-books-now-you-ve-got-prima-donna/) [Mike Royer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-royer/) > [The success of our operas rests most of the time in the hands of the conductor. This person is as necessary as a tenor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuseppe-verdi/the-success-of-our-operas-rests-most-of-the-time-in-the-hands-of-the/) [Giuseppe Verdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giuseppe-verdi/) ## More by Gail Godwin > [“I contemplated how I was going to get through the rest of the day and felt the onset of a terror I thought I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/i-contemplated-how-i-was-going-to-get-through-the-rest-of-the-day-and/) [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) > [“People commit thousands of small suicides every day that go unnoticed”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/people-commit-thousands-of-small-suicides-every-day-that-go-unnoticed/) [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) > [There are two kinds of people. One kind, you can just tell by looking at them at what point they congealed into their final…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/there-are-two-kinds-of-people-one-kind-you-can-just-tell-by-looking/) [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) > [Something's your vocation if it keeps making more of you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/something-s-your-vocation-if-it-keeps-making-more-of-you/) [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) > [None of us suddenly becomes something overnight. The preparations have been in the making for lifetime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/none-of-us-suddenly-becomes-something-overnight-the-preparations-have/) [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) > [The best antidote I have found is to yearn for something. As long as you yearn, you can't congeal: There is a forward motion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/the-best-antidote-i-have-found-is-to-yearn-for-something-as-long-as/) [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) > [“Other people don’t exist when you’re not with them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/other-people-don-t-exist-when-you-re-not-with-them/) [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) > [I read constantly. If I don't have a good book, I'm beside myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/i-read-constantly-if-i-don-t-have-a-good-book-i-m-beside-myself/) [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) > [Dreams say what they mean, but they don't say it in daytime language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/dreams-say-what-they-mean-but-they-don-t-say-it-in-daytime-language/) [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) > [The characters that I create are parts of myself and I send them on little missions to find out what I don’t know yet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/the-characters-that-i-create-are-parts-of-myself-and-i-send-them-on/) [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) > [During the act of writing I have told myself something that I didn't know I knew.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/during-the-act-of-writing-i-have-told-myself-something-that-i-didn-t/) [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) > [“Yes, if you believed in words, if you lived by words, you had better be careful which words you say and how you say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/yes-if-you-believed-in-words-if-you-lived-by-words-you-had-better-be/) [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) > [I believe that with enough practice and good faith, you can learn to recognize when the work is achieved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/i-believe-that-with-enough-practice-and-good-faith-you-can-learn-to/) [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) > [If there is such a thing as sin in this world, I think it must be shutting oneself up against hope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/if-there-is-such-a-thing-as-sin-in-this-world-i-think-it-must-be/) [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) > [The race of children possesses magically sagacious powers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/the-race-of-children-possesses-magically-sagacious-powers/) [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) [Explore all 50 Gail Godwin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) ## More Distraction quotes > [I don't think there's a direct correlation between my sexuality and my skiing ability. But I think because I was so concerned about it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gus-kenworthy/i-don-t-think-there-s-a-direct-correlation-between-my-sexuality-and/) [Gus Kenworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-kenworthy/) > [I don't want this to be a distraction. This has been distracting enough. I'm not going to rehash this going forward. I'm sure other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jayson-werth/i-don-t-want-this-to-be-a-distraction-this-has-been-distracting/) [Jayson Werth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jayson-werth/) > [Almost all accidents take place because of human distraction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-thrun/almost-all-accidents-take-place-because-of-human-distraction/) [Sebastian Thrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-thrun/) > [I spend a lot of time loathing the sentences that I put down on the page. Once I'm past that phase, it doesn't really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-link/i-spend-a-lot-of-time-loathing-the-sentences-that-i-put-down-on-the/) [Kelly Link](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-link/) > [To really be of benefit to others as the Buddha always taught, we ourselves must first get out of the swamp. One of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tenzin-palmo/to-really-be-of-benefit-to-others-as-the-buddha-always-taught-we/) [Tenzin Palmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tenzin-palmo/) > [As a social and as a personal force, religion has become a dependent variable. It does not originate; it reacts. It does not denounce;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-wright-mills/as-a-social-and-as-a-personal-force-religion-has-become-a-dependent/) [C. Wright Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-wright-mills/) > [Not knowing how to feed the spirit, we try to muffle its demands in distraction...What matters is that one be for a time inwardly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/not-knowing-how-to-feed-the-spirit-we-try-to-muffle-its-demands-in/) [Anne Morrow Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [You have a number of choices. You could continue to always fight against people who are really distractions. They're people in the cheap seats…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarence-thomas/you-have-a-number-of-choices-you-could-continue-to-always-fight/) [Clarence Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarence-thomas/) > [I feel very privileged to get to read and write and not to have to do things that I don't like, and I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/i-feel-very-privileged-to-get-to-read-and-write-and-not-to-have-to-do/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [Meditation is sticking to one thought. That single thought keeps away other thoughts; distraction of mind is a sign of its weakness; by constant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/meditation-is-sticking-to-one-thought-that-single-thought-keeps-away/) [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) > [“One of the defining symptoms of ADHD is distraction.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-orlov/one-of-the-defining-symptoms-of-adhd-is-distraction/) [Melissa Orlov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-orlov/) > [Some days, who can stare at swathes of sky, leafage and bad-complected whale-gray streets, tailpipes and smokestacks orating sepia exhaust, or the smaller enthusiasms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-di-piero/some-days-who-can-stare-at-swathes-of-sky-leafage-and-bad-complected/) [W. S. Di Piero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-di-piero/) > [“the problem with reading off a screen isn’t resolution, eyestrain, or compatibility with reading in the bathtub: it’s that computers are seductive, they tempt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cory-doctorow/the-problem-with-reading-off-a-screen-isn-t-resolution-eyestrain-or/) [Cory Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cory-doctorow/) > [“Distraction is your friend.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susane-colasanti/distraction-is-your-friend/) [Susane Colasanti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susane-colasanti/) > [“Opportunity knocks but some people are too busy watching TV.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-gerard-trotman/opportunity-knocks-but-some-people-are-too-busy-watching-tv/) [Wayne Gerard Trotman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-gerard-trotman/) [Browse all 1,030 Distraction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distraction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I'm always aware that I risk being taken for a neurasthenic prima donna when I explain to someone who wants 'just a little' of my time that five minutes of the wrong kind of distraction can ruin a working day.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gail Godwin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/i-m-always-aware-that-i-risk-being-taken-for-a-neurasthenic-prima/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Distraction" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/i-m-always-aware-that-i-risk-being-taken-for-a-neurasthenic-prima/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c6/gail-godwin-13566_distraction_i-m-always-aware-that-i-risk-being-taken_800254.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c6/gail-godwin-13566_distraction_i-m-always-aware-that-i-risk-being-taken_800254.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c6/gail-godwin-13566_distraction_i-m-always-aware-that-i-risk-being-taken_800254.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I'm always aware that I risk being taken for a neurasthenic prima donna when I explain to someone who wants…” — Gail Godwin", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Gail Godwin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I'm always aware that I risk...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/i-m-always-aware-that-i-risk-being-taken-for-a-neurasthenic-prima/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/i-m-always-aware-that-i-risk-being-taken-for-a-neurasthenic-prima/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```