Magicians don’t hide things from your eyes. They hide them from your attention. So does every good distraction.

You see much more than you notice, and the gap is where every trick lives. The move happens in plain sight while your attention has been steered somewhere more interesting, so your eyes were never the weak point in the first place. Phones, arguments and clever sales talk all work on the same gap.

Next time an hour vanishes, ask what had your attention while it went rather than why you are so weak. Name the thing that was being moved in the open. The question gets you further than the self-blame.