run outta spoons when forced to multitask

Post Reply New Topic

I totally lost it today when I was forced to do several things at once on a balky computer and balky website and balky phone. two separate things is my hard limit before I fall apart in a heap of frustration and meltdown. how many others here simply CANNOT MULTITASK?

I try just not to.
Only attempting to figure how to rapid process switching back and forth.

That itself is a drainer; to having to pivot or transition.
Tried to figure to not need to pivot a lot.

By registering a new task as a part of the current one.

Or, use one task to take break from another, like no different than answering that one question from a test later.

So I tried to make it itself a larger arc consists of overlapping tinier components instead of something parallel and jumping constantly between the two different arcs.


Provided if; I'm not very overwhelmed because of the senses, definitely not very rushed because frick that, and if it's not too complex.

I don't have a lot of prerequisites that makes it effective.
Like actual time management skills of actually knowing when and when not to.
Or a reliable and consistent judgement and sense of time, the real one aided externally or not, else I'd be wasted thinking as if 3 hours felt like I need to rush, instead wasting 3 hours fretting of losing time or wait last minute.

So I figured how to just not register anything as a new task that I need to transition.
To not need transitioning at all. Into a one larger arc to focus everything onto.



Short answer: Yes I cannot multitask as much as my boss kept insisting that I should.
And because of some stupid habits, I try not to but cannot shake it off.

So I try to make something that looked like multitasking not multitasking in the processes.

Gained Number Post Count (1).
Lose Time (n).

Lose more time here - Updates at least once a week.

I can hold a conversation and swing a golf club.

Nope... it just takes too.. much...and I end up crashing hard later on . It just does not seem worth it . For what it costs me, healthwise . And then getting run down can run down my immune system on ocassion,making anyone more susceptable to disease of even just colds . ..And in todays society,people even have the nerve to expect,
Especially for Neuro Diverse persons.

Self made work around to limited working memory.

At work, I travel between buildings. Get constantly stopped by coworkers all the time. That interruption makes me forget where I was headed. What I was working on. Gets awkward standing there for a while till it comes back, minutes later. Stands out. Round another corner, another person sees you, must relive that experience on repeat. Absolute nightmare.

My hack. First thing I do when I start my day. I start documenting on a small legal pad. Each line will look something like this. Abbreviation is location where I'm headed. What I'm working on when I get there. I'll remember the request when I see this reminder.

ACC - Lex Printer down all users
HR - VPN trouble shooting
Serv - Tech laptop setup

As I read the requests, I add it to the legal pad. I normally curve out only 2 hours. After a break, in just a few minutes I'll carve out another two hours. Till the day is over. Works. No one will notice or care, your invisible .

I know where I'm headed with a one second glance of the legal pad. Essentially your hacking the working memory issue by increasing it's size with the legal pad.

It only needs to make sense to you. What ever you need to get there. While I carry a laptop and tech equipment all day, I do not use it for this purpose. The time it takes to unlock a device, see a distracting notification, I don't remember why I even unlocked it. Legal pad, absent all distraction. No technology reins supreme ironically in this case.

Absent distraction is key.

My 2 cents here,
Us humans NT or ND, cannot multi task.
Science confirmed this several times already.
With the added difficulties of Neurodivergence in any shape or form, working in environments that require rapid task switching for 25 years now I have learned myself the skill to rapid single-task.
BUT: my main task is keeping track of my on paper or notepad++ list of things to do as well as a summary of where I left of with them. and each time I need to because of phone call, someone at my desk, or... I first fall back to task 1: task planning, update my notepad++ or sheet with where I am with the task I'm interrupting and what I need to know to pick-up later. next short-form formulate the new task entails. Next re-evaluate what the new proper priority of tackling the tasks with the new tasks will be.

hope this helps,
Kada

My vote is Not Sure because it varies for me. Not sure if this would come as a surprise to some of you who are familiar with lots my posts but I think my executive functioning is better than a bit of autistics. My executive functioning is probably not nearly as good as typical NTs but is it not normally very disabling or majorly problematic. When doing tasks that require lots of mental focus it's better if I'm not multitasking because I may forget, lose track, or get confused which can be very stressful. However with some things it's better when I multitask. Lots of various tasks have moments where there's waiting periods like when doing laundry I have to wait on the machines to wash & dry the cloths or when updating & running maintenance programs on my desktop I have to wait on updates to download & install & programs to scan. Having something to do while I'm waiting that doesn't require a major amount of focus can be more productive depending on what I'm doing & it keeps my mind from majorly zoning out & daydreaming. The way my ADD works is that I'm constantly daydreaming non-stop but if I'm doing nothing for a moment the daydreaming takes over & the free few minutes I had can easily turn into an over an hour of just daydreaming. It's better if I have something else going on to distract me during my doing nothing moments like listening to music, doing random things on my phone, or having the TV on.

My OCD made me a good strategist when I was working because I could organize tasks order in a way that was more practical & kept me busy while waiting on things. My jobs were cleaning related & instead of just waiting for dishes & floors & such to dry I was doing something else like dumping trash or cleaning a different section, & when things were dry I jumped back to putting dishes away or moving things back where I had previously cleaned. A big problem for me was getting pulled off what I was supposed to be doing in order to do something unrelated & I was still expected to somehow get all my typical work done in addition to the extra BS. I can not physically be in two different places at the exact same time doing work. Then I had to half-fast some tasks so I got the critical stuff got done well while being forced to sacrifice quality for the other stuff. I found that very stressful & it was one of the reasons I quit my 2nd job. When having multiple tasks to do with enough time to do them, I generally prefer to stay on one task till it's done or till there's a waiting period on it but I can handle switching back & forth between tasks if necessary & if I'm not being majorly rushed. I think I have a much harder time handling rushing than I do multitasking.

I feel like I skewed the results because I’m AuDHD.

I can multitask but only if it's just like 'two things where one thing doesn't take up too much attention'. Like if I'm playing the game Old School RuneScape, a lot of stuff in that game is very much 'doesn't need your full attention' so I can do something like that in one window while IDK watching videos, browsing the web, writing a story, etc. in another window just fine.

Hell right now I'm literally also watching a YouTube video while making this post.

I can't do multiple things that require my full attention at once like hell no.

Seems often the level of attention,something needs to be addressed , becomes the "decider" of whether , my brain goes into borderline overwelm mode . And whether the sensation of making positive progress on the each respective task .
(In my own mindset) . So setting limits on my own frustration levels when tasking things and seems to help .
On occassion, will intentionally focus on the more potentially successful task that I can complete. And that successful finish, can allow a tiny spoon reset. ( for myself). And any remaining tasks might be addressed by a Aspie, whom ,NOW has successfully conpleted something just alittle earlier . Even then will try to break down more advanced tasks into several days . If at all possible. So that each part of a project, has a better possibility of success for that day. Doing this, I seem toget more done that I expect. " IF" everything follows plans ....lolzz, One can hope And the above suggestion about keeping your memory on paper for tasks being or needing to be done...IS very helpful to me.

I often listen to YouTube videos while playing a video game (that doesn't require much concentration) or working on a craft. Is that multitasking?

I can walk and chew gum at the same time.

That Walk and chew gum , can even be challenging on some days . am clearly undenrstanding of the above 2
posts . .. but maybe not so much with vid games .