Being fully engaged with someone takes thought. But it's good for both of you.
Don't you just love a good listener? Someone who doesn't interrupt and just lets you spill your guts, speak from the heart or at least lets you finish a sentence?
Ever notice how a good listener makes you feel? Ever catch yourself not being a good listener? Find yourself interrupting the other person or notice that you weren't really sure what the other person was talking about because you weren't really paying attention as you were preparing what you were going to say next?
Interact.
Is it as jarring to you as it is to me to call a company and actually have a live person on the other end? It seems so rare these days that I will thank the person on the other end of the call for actually picking up the phone!
I think in this day-and-age of using technical devices so many hours of each and every day, and especially with the pandemic, we have been and continue to be spending large amounts of time not interacting with a live person. And unlike robots, I do believe that humans need to spend time fully interacting and engaging with each other.
Don't interrupt!
Maybe just for one day try being really aware of listening to someone else speak. Let them finish their sentences before you jump in. Actually look at them, lean forward a bit to let them know you are engaged; nod in all the right places. And then think of a question you could ask to show that you really are listening.
Who knows? You just might learn something new. You will for sure make the other person feel good.
And you're only committing for a day. You can always go back to interrupting tomorrow!
Image by Emiliano Vittoriosi @ Unsplash