do you ever get stuck?

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I'm always stuck in one way or another. Hemmed into what I am doing by various aspects of my environment that only I am aware of. I'm used to it. But when I really need to break free, it's exhausting work. (Mind you, I have a progressive autism-related movement disorder that amplifies transition problems and just about every other related thing. So I'm going to have severe problems in this kind of area.)

Oh yeah, absolutely! I zone out all of the time in the shower and, before I know it, 20 minutes have passed by. Plus it just feels good to be in there.

And I also do the same things in shops. I have gone out to buy like 1 item and been out for 7 hours! There are just so many cool, colorful things to look at. I also find that seeing one thing triggers a memory or thought about some completely unrelated other thing and then I go off to see if I can find THAT thing as well.

Plus I sometimes take forever to decide on the perfect thing to buy, if I don't have enough money.

I do it in shops I go to all the time. And yes, I do enjoy the routine of going back to the same places over and over. I like knowing what to expect in addition to the thrill of maybe finding some new items.

Yes. I'm stuck right now. I can't get together the initiative to get out of my chair and get coffee, even though I am thirsty and the coffee has been sitting there for an hour since I made it. The automatic coffee maker has turned off by now, and by the time I can get it, it will be cold...

Actually, I'll probably remember to get it now because I've looked at the problem straight-on instead of just remembering every five minutes and then not doing anything about it.

Ah, executive dysfunction. That auto-shutoff is probably the reason my apartment has not yet burnt down... I know better than to cook with anything that does not shut itself off after a safe time period!

Edit: Yep. Got my coffee. Now if only I could remember to remember to do things...

Callista, have you tried, when that happens, starting to move something a little? Like, you want to get coffee, so you start by shifting one arm into a position to help you stand up, then make another little movement, and then you're up and moving and you can get it so long as you don't end up pacing the apartment stimming?

I get stuck in my eyes, for most of a day or for hours or very strongly for a couple minutes, just looking at the world, zooming in and out of its complex parts. Sometimes its hard for me to snap out of it, and speaking is difficult, its like my brain is glued to my vision which is a quarter of a mile away out in front of me. Or, for example, in the grociery store when I stand in front of the items I need to buy for a whole minute before I remember I have to pick one and take it with me, not just look at them.

i do think it has to do with transitions. because usually the days that this is very strong are days after I haven't been talking much or have been drawing or painting often.

Yes, I call it getting distracted. I guess it's the same thing as being lost in the detail, the difficulty in keeping half an eye on the big picture that would remind me of what I'm really supposed to be doing. But sometimes I can't pull away from a detail even when I know I should do, so it's probably more than just an awareness problem.

Example: I'd arranged to visit some friends, and was half an hour late out of the house, because I was writing a computer program and just couldn't tear myself away, I kept getting more ideas. Half an hour might not seem like much, but it's almost unheard of for me to be that late for anything. I was sorely tempted to just not bother going out at all. Computer programming isn't really much of a special interest for me, it's just something I do for the result, though I do get quite fascinated with the way it works.

It's really quite a problem, because my coping strategy is to avoid starting things that I might get sucked into, if there's a risk of something important getting forgotten. Trouble is, I get stability in my life but it's nothing like as much fun. The other coping strategy is a timer alarm, which allows me a pre-set ration of fun, but it's annoying when it goes off, I hate being interrupted.

I get stuck while I am driving. I will need to turn off, and I find a suitable place, and then I drive past it. It's like my body just isn't getting the message. I have to try several times before I can really pull over, and I need to see the spot for a long time before I get to it.

I know I've tried this without much luck (just tried it now). What generally makes it easy for me to move is something that facilitates transition (say nothing new to read on my favorite forum, or being reminded, or an interruption).

so funny you mention this. I always take a million years at the grocery store if my wife isn't with me to keep me on task.

I can relate to the stories about stores and the shower. If I don't go in there with a "commando" attitude (focused on the goal) I end up floating around aimlessly for hours (and then usually leave without what I went there to get).

Yesterday, I tweaked a setting on my (cheap, glitchy, & touchy) router, which caused it to stop functioning (including responding to configuration commands).

That really messed with my head. All could not be right with the world again until it was fixed. (THAT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN.) Since I tend to forget what I'm doing every 5 minutes it took all night. I could not break away or sleep or eat until it was done. But now it is done, and all is right with the world again. (G-d, I hate computers sometimes.)

I used to get stuck really badly playing SimCity. I'd go entire weekends without eating or sleeping. It's hard to explain because after a while I would hate the game, but still be unable to stop. Not sure why that particular game was so bad that way.

That sort of stuck happens to me all the time. It's happening to me right now. I don't want to be on WrongPlanet. I want to be doing something else on my computer. But I can't get off of WrongPlanet.

When it happens with video games, I have a friend who calls it "getting eaten by a video game".

Right now I'm getting eaten by WrongPlanet.

This happens to me relatively frequently, or did with my somewhat more failure-prone computer. I just can't rest until it works properly again.

I want to play video games, but I too am being eaten by Wrong Planet.

(munch munch)

Well, here's to hoping for fortuitous and short-lived power failures (that don't mess up computer equipment) to free some of us from being eaten all night.

I probably should mention I spend most of every day stuck. The thing that usually pulls me away from the computer involves me getting stuck in an entirely different way.

I don't get stuck in stores too much lately because I am constantly overloaded and want to get everything done as fast as possible. Even bookstores are hard for me these days.

I used to get stuck in stores with indecision. I'd know what I wanted but I'd still have to look at all the other options to be sure.

I used to walk to the end of my parents' driveway and get stuck at the end. Which way to go, left or right? It made no difference, as it was just a walk. Apparently a particular kind of brain damage can render you unable to choose from two options. It was on the telly.