Do you get how the NT world gets stuff done?

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I am a people watcher. People seem to need continuous social stimulation like they need a drug fix. They seem to have their cell phones in constant operation whether they are walking down the street or driving their cars. Or they seem to stand around and socialize while they are at work, at the gym, while they are eating, etc. It sounds like an endless chatter and squawking like birds and insects chirping if you pull back and listen to it all at once.

I am not averse to communication and sometimes I enjoy it, despite realizing I've probably only spoken a fraction of the number of words that a typical human being speaks during his/her lifetime. I do wonder when do people find the time to do their work, to study a subject in detail, to think deeply about something, and to see the world going on around them outside their narrow social focal point. Are they just better at multi-tasking and getting things done more efficiently? Maybe, it is because I feel drained after socializing heavily and they must be revitalized from the experience. Maybe I am stereotyping the masses from the actions of a few, but I have a problem seeing where anything gets done living this more accepted neurotypical life.

From the NPR article:

I've been wondering this a lot lately. I feel like I'm pretty busy with school and stuff, and I barely socialize at all outside of class. I don't know how those people who spend hours a day socializing manage to get anything done, unless they give up sleep. I also don't understand why some people can't seem to function without other people around. Like, tonight there's a girl in my residence hall who announces that she's starving and is going to get dinner, and asks who wants to come with her. Everybody around has either already eaten or isn't hungry. So she decides to skip dinner. I just don't get why someone would rather go hungry than go to the dining hall alone.

They stick together as a pack, and that's how they do it. A pack gets more done in less time.

Socialization is a revitalizing force for most NT's. That is one of the reasons I think I'm probably more NT than AS; my efforts to work at home by myself sent me into depression. It got harder and harder to get anything done without the stimulation from having other people around. I need to be able to bounce things and get response.

The average NT (that isn't me ) can collect this hoard of collection of social and organizational information in their head that confounds me. One man I work with can tell you the names of the kids of all of his 1,000 + clients, plus some stories about them, and remember all the relevant professional facts. I work on maybe 20 clients and need extensive notes to remember next year what I did this year. And he can switch from A to B to C and back instantaneously; no need to refocus or think about where he was and what he was doing. He is FAST. It's all just there for him; no shifting pages, no opening files; look - compare -click DONE. He's talking to people all day long and still producing 5 times the work I can do. He's exceptional for an NT, but a good example of how the thought and work process can differ. He is routed to jump successfully and seamlessly among 5 roads at once.

Also, for a lot of people, talking IS getting something done. Discuss issue A with people C,D, and E; sort that into the decision making process, and move forward. Resolving issue A is an important aspect of work; both my husband and I can go round in circles worrying about what the best resolution is. I don't see that need for the "best" answer existing that extensively in the clearly NT population - you find "good enough," and you move on.

Other conversations set up doctor appointments, resolve school issues, and so on. Most conversations serve a purpose, and actually advance the "job" of the moment.

Anyway .. time to get my kids to bed. Interesting question, however. I spend a lot of time wondering how other people can juggle so many more apples than I can, but maybe sometimes it's an illusion?

I've always admired the fact that they can socialize all the time and still get things done. Believe me, if I could multitask like that, I would've done it, too.

I am really bad at multitasking and love to talk to people. However a lot of it is rabbiting on about topics i like to talk about and listening to the topics they like to talk about, filtering out the "irrelevant" interpersonal stuff, which I dont really know what to do with.