Paying Attention

The only factor becoming scarce in a world of abundance is human attention.
Kevin Kelly, in 'Wired'

Agree. Stephen Covey says (Habit #2) - First, seek to understand.

If you are not going to pay attention to and understand your patients, you won't have patients. What can you do to improve your attention skills?

1. Listen interactively - respond with a meaningful statement when you have heard what the person has to say.
2. Don't interrupt. Terrible habit. My husband accuses me of doing it; he's worse than I am. Pay attention and don't think about what you are going to say.
3. Remember important information about the person, like his/her name, children's names, pet names, spouse/significant other name, favorite food, last vacation etc. Take notes if you can't remember.

What are your comments? What can we do to pay attention to each other?

Jean

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