Why Is It So Exhausting to Listen?

It is hard to stay engaged, especially when we have bad habits and lots of handy excuses:

• My mind is racing all over the place.
• My environment is all wrong.
• Technology is momentarily more interesting.
• People are way too hard to follow.
• I’ve heard all of this before.
• It doesn’t matter, and I really don’t care.
• I’ve got something better to do.
• There’s no end in sight; when is it going to stop?

Active listening means being engaged and involved, asking better, more directed questions. It’s far from passive listening, which is difficult but not that hard. Good listening is a powerful way to lower the noise and heighten focus and concentration on both sides. It jump-starts good conversations.

Listen with purpose, giving the gift of your individual attention and time, to lower the noise around you.

- Joseph McCormack, Noise: Living and Leading When Nobody Can Focus (2020)