I probably spend 5 hours on the phone everyday. My entire team is remotely located and I keep in touch with all of them on a daily basis with my cell phone.

I get distracted easily when I’m talking on the phone and I notice an email pop up or an instant message get sent out. I then space out for a minute or so focusing on the email/IM and I totally lose all focus in the conversation and have to ask them to repeat what they just said (looking like a complete idiot).

I can also easily notice when someone else isn’t paying attention on the phone. Easy ways to identify this happening:
– Long pauses before replying to you
– Don’t get the “Yes”, “Ok”, “I see”, “uh huh” feedback in the conversation
– They ask you to repeat stuff you just said
– You can hear typing in the background

My new strategy is to simply turn off my monitor when I get a phone call. It works every time.