Selective Attention

Selective listening is one thing that I am very familiar with.  I have the problem of sometimes blocking out certain people when they talk and not hearing anything they say.  I tend to have selective listening when I am being lectured by my parents.  It's not that what they say isn't important, it's more like they repeat themselves so many times that it is easier to just space out when they talk and nod periodically.  This goes with some professors too.  I have a bit of a pet peeve when people say things multiple times or continue to tell the same story over and over again.  I will zone back in and pay attention when I know I think the topic is interesting or has important instructions.  This is a really bad habit and can be very rude.  I don't know if there is much that I can do to change my selective attention with my family except to try to listen carefully to what they say even if I may this it is repetitive or I don't agree with it.  That's the other important thing, I should not shut my attention off just because I may have a different opinion than the other person.  I need to realize that it shows disrespect to my professors if I am in my cell phone texting rather than listening to their lecture... the last thing I want is to seem like a disrespectful student :)