Stimming and multitasking: An autistic contradiction?

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Seems kind of strange. We're really bad at multitasking. If I'm trying to wash dishes while talking on the phone, the result, I don't get many dishes washed. If I try to fold clothes while watching TV, I don't get very many clothes folded.

And yet, I'll pull my face, flap my fingers, rub my eyebrows, and countless other stims without thinking while doing something else.

What's up with our brains? Why are we so good at "multitasking" at useless, sometimes embarrassing things like stims, but so bad at multitasking useful things, even when those things require so little attention?

My guess is that it has something to do with executive function. I think our EF probably doesn't count stimming as a "task", because it isn't goal oriented - it doesn't have an "end result" which has to be put in the correct sequence with any other "end results", and we don't have to keep track of it's progress because it doesn't lead anywhere particular.