Have you ever logged how much time you waste fixing other people’s mistakes? Sloppy mistakes. Errors in communication. Laziness on their part. Someone’s lack of attention to detail. I started logging this and got so frustrated, I had to stop lest I go crazy (some might argue I already am crazy but that’s a conversation for a different time).
We can learn a lot from babies and toddlers. Watch them play. They are focused in the present moment. They pay attention to whatever they are doing. They aren’t distracted by a lot of things happening at once. They pay attention.
What’s to prevent you from taking an extra moment to proofread an email before sending it, to double check the data in a document before passing it along or to ask for clarification if you don’t understand something? There is no good answer to this question. All you have to do is pay attention. Jon Kabat-Zinn titled his classic 1994 book, “Wherever you Go, There You Are. Good advice. Be present. Proofread. Save yourself (and the receiver of your message) the extra time it takes to correct the errors you make. We all might wind up with more time at the end of the day. What a concept! Bonus time just for paying attention.