Have you ever been talking to somebody at the party? Do you focus entirely on the person you are speaking with or does your attention keep jumping around the room to all the other people there? Generally speaking, if the person is someone you really want to talk to you will focus on them. Most other people will only get about half of your attention. You may think that this is OK, because if you don't really want to talk to them then what does it matter if you don't give them your full attention? Consider two things. First, you may just not realize the importance of that conversation. If you are at a networking meeting and you hope to meet the CEO of Company X but you end up talking to someone who has a low-level job at a different company, then you may let your attention wander as you speak to him. But maybe you don't realize that this person has already met the CEO and could introduce you. Do you think he will do that if he feels you don't really care about speaking to him? This doesn't mean you need to spend the entire time talking to him. Five or ten minutes of real attentive conversation can be worth 30 minutes to an hour of partial attention interaction. Second, whether you want to speak to someone changes based on the situation. You love your spouse , but if he or she tries to talk to you while you are watching something you like on TV, where is your attention going? Make your own decision, but if you want them to feel valued, give them your 100% attention. "The nice thing is that in many cases you can give them your attention for a few minutes and then return to what you were doing. You miss very little, they feel valued, and all is good." If your spouse wants to talk to you when you are busy you should   _  .
go on with what you are doing stop doing anything immediately decide according to the situation stop to talk to him or her at once