I’ve been caught out a few times recently (ok more than a few times). I appear to be only able to focus on one thing at once.Much to the annoyance of when he’s talking to me and I’m not listening.

The problem is – it’s a little rude of me.  I do acknowledge that.  My lack of attention is usually brought crashing back to reality by ‘Dave – you’re not listening to me’ followed by an apology and ‘sorry what were you saying’.  Inevitably the conversation I was supposed to be having was actually rather important and I really ought to have been listening and offering an opinion.

To be fair to me – devices are usually the source of my distraction.   Emails, teams, texts and god knows what else draws my attention away from the things that are important.  

The thing is – if you don’t give people your fullest attention, they won’t give it back.  It’s a lose lose situation.
I’ve now started to flip my phone over or close the laptop lid when I’m in a conversation – that definitely helps me.

What is your tip for maintaining attention?