Do your special interests keep you from bettering your life?

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Do your special interests keep you from bettering your life situation as a whole, the way you (looking at it logically) think you should be doing?



Suggestions on how to work around this issue are very welcome.

My current special interests have helped me to better my life.

My previous special interests did keep me from bettering my life. It's pretty hard to move forward with spiked green hair and a bad attitude towards society.

I put "almost never" because, even though I haven't had any special interests that have caused me trouble in several years (mostly because my attachment to them isn't extreme now), I did when I was younger. My most significant issues now have to do more with executive functioning problems. While I sometimes focus on my special interests while I'm procrastinating, I know that if it weren't them, it would just be something else. It's more because I can't get the motivation to do what I need to do, than that I am too interested in something else to do it.

They are my biggest motivation to better my life. I want to do what I've always dreamed of doing, which is pretty much all related to my special interests. That's why I chose my university major, and why I regularly work on improving my weaker skills relevant to pursuing my interests as a career.

I said sometimes because sometimes I can spend a ridiculous amount of time on them, and while I enjoy them, they can be a hinderance to getting other things done that I know I need to do.

But then there's also this. If it weren't for my special interests I wouldn't have pursued the education that I did, or be pursuing the career path I'm about to, or have something I absolutely love doing so much that I'd do anything it took along the way to be able to do it again - so they can be bigger motivators than hinderances.

It's all about fining balance & scheduling time, keeping track of time, being productive etc. I use a few different tools to help, but mainly I just need to stay focused on my to-do list and tasks and get things done vs. procrastinate and spend far too much time on something of interest.. ah yes, that's pretty well the very same challenge each and every one of us has regardless of our interest lol. But when I truly have time I can dedicate to my own SI's, it's pretty awesome to have them as I can get right into them like most people can't and enjoy them for a seemingly endless amount of time. Ditto with sharing mutual interests with fellow Aspies - I can sooooo get lost in that.. but it's awesome and I love it and wouldn't have it any other way. Just need to make sure I don't allow any of it to completely screw me over in getting other things done in life. I'm getting better and better at that with age/experience/practice and just plain ol' trying harder.

My interests don't interrupt my life because I know there's a time and place for it.

We as humans are constantly learning, my special interests do help me continue to constantly learn, so i see them as a good thing.

I met my husband through one of my special interests, wrote my master's thesis on one, and they are my greatest source of satisfaction so I'll say "no way!"

I feel like my current special interest does keep me from bettering myself. It has given me a lot of grief. Though to be fair, it's not the interest itself that is causing me grief so much as it is my attachment to it. No matter what I do, I can't stop being sentimental over it even though I am frankly bored with it and haven't engaged in it for months. I waste a lot of time being upset that my interest isn't as strong as it used to be, and yet my inability to completely let it go is preventing me from being able to gain new interests. Sometimes I wonder if I would have been better off never becoming obsessed with it in the first place.

I am making my special interest my career.

In New England, it's considered "hold you back" if your special interest is video games. And that is mine.
It's a dream of mine for a video game to be developed by only autistic people.

It's not the special interests' fault that you can't manage your time and prioritize your activities better. That's just executive dysfunction. Special interests are what makes life worth living for most Aspies.

I think you are rigth on that!

It's more that since the special interests are what makes life worth living for most aspies, the effect of executive dysfunction might be that they spend too much time on them - more than what is good for their own lives. I did this before I was aware of aspergers.

This obviously does not include the case where a special interest is turned into a career. That's a great thing.

Why are you making sense? Oh right, cause you know.

I picked "rarely." Most of the time I spend on my special interests is in doing productive, creative projects or goals. For example, I'm reading medical school books now for fun, to increase my knowledge. A couple of years ago, I watched every episode of I Love Lucy in order and wrote down pertinent quotes and took pictures of key scenes to make my own I Love Lucy Wiki site. I hope to write an I Love Lucy book someday. I have stacks of other science books that I need to read for fun. The only time special interests get in the way is when I get a new video game or something and HAVE to beat it. But that only lasts a week or two.

My special interests have been video games (younger), business, and math. But it was actually my stim (masturbation) that kept me from doing more things.