The phrase "useful distraction" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it when referring to something that provides a beneficial diversion from a task or situation.
Example: "During a long meeting, I found that taking short breaks for a quick walk was a useful distraction that helped me refocus."
Alternatives: "helpful diversion" or "beneficial distraction."
It would be easy for Martínez to try to use Saturday's game and another possible Cup run as a useful distraction from league difficulties, though he is probably aware Everton supporters would not swallow that.
When you just start out it may only be a useful distraction, but in the long term you may be able to use it to calm and satisfy yourself without relying on the habit.
But on the positive side, the dogs provided a useful distraction.
Conspiry theorists might say Torres provided a useful distraction for his manager from other issues.
It may also see a fight in Somalia as a useful distraction from unrest at home.
Additionally, communities that cover depression and anorexia are finding the app is a useful distraction for some of them.
While the burqa has become a useful political distraction, it could be turned into a symbol of a state that welcomes diversity.
Not as pretty as the Northern Lights, but the warning lights are just as useful a distraction from the failure of my plan to eliminate the deficit entirely by now.
After avoiding a herd of walkers, they happen upon a cabin in the woods, one of the Terminans is idly chatting about Michonne while he sets up fireworks (a useful walker distraction tool, it turns out) out front.
6) Authoritarian Arab states have tilted away from seeing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a useful steam-releasing distraction toward concern that it feeds a destabilizing Iranian-backed "resistance front".
Hedlund [1] provides a useful definition of distraction; he defines it as being "a diversion of attention from driving, because the driver is temporarily focusing on an object, person, task or event not related to driving, which reduces the driver's awareness, decision making ability and/or performance, leading to an increased risk of corrective actions, near-crashes, or crashes".
