Splitting your focus sends a clear signal to the person you’re with that they are not worthy of your full attention.
We might give people our physical presence, but how often do we give them our mental presence? Multi-tasking has become the norm for many of us – it’s tempting to keep one eye on the TV, the washing or the phone while you’re spending time with someone, which tells them they aren’t important and not deserving of your attention.
Unlike other animals, we spend 46.9 per cent of our waking hours thinking about something other than what we’re doing, according to psychologists at Harvard University. They discovered that all this mind-wandering comes at an emotional cost and typically makes us unhappy. Be mindful of how powerful your mental presence is and the effect it can have on the people in your life. Attention is a simple way to show love and one of the kindest things you can give.
