By Valerie Brown, JD, MA, ACC, via Getting Smart

Research on listening indicates that the we spend about 80% of our waking hours communicating:

Writing 9%
Reading 16%
Speaking 30%
Listening, to people, music, TV, radio, etc. 40-50%

About 75% of that time we are forgetful, pre-occupied or not paying attention. One of the factors influencing this statistic is that the average attention span for an adult in the United States is 22 seconds. It’s no surprise to note the length of television commercials is usually anywhere from 15 to 30 seconds.