What's wrong with me? Why can't I focus?

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I should be cleaning my apartment right now. Management will be inspecting it soon and if I am not in line, they'll charge me a bunch of money I can't afford. I NEED to get my apartment up to standard but it seems I just can't. My entire life I have had a dual problem. When I find something that interests me, I must know everything about it. I spend every waking moment studying and learning until I know all there is to know about the subject. I will ignore everything in my life; friends, family, personal hygiene, everything until I am absolutely the best at what I am interested in. On the flip side of that is I absolutely cannot do something I don't want to do. The second I try to start, I get distracted. An example: "I should really get started. Let's find some good background music. Ooh, I wonder what's on WP? And what's on reddit? I wonder what's is on hulu that I haven't seen? Oh, and I need to check my gmail. I have a notification on facebook? I should check that. I wonder, (random wikipedia search that lasts 20 minutes) No dammit, I should get a good song to help me stay on task. Let's go to youtube to find that. Ooh! A cat video!" And so it goes. Until it's 6:00 in the morning and I haven't gotten anything done. So, why can't I do things I don't want to do? Is it an AS thing? Being spoiled? I need to get this under control if I am to get my life turned around. Help?

I have the same problem. I've been told to break tasks down into smaller tasks and concentrate only on that until it's done. Then move onto another small task. If you are still having trouble then break the task into smaller units. I think the problem, at least with me, is the whole mess is just too overwhelming at once. I also have trouble getting started, but if I can force myself to take the first step then I can carry on to a certain point. Anyway, I think it's called autistic inertia.

if either of you find a solution, let me know

I'm glad I'm not the only one with this problem.
Aimless has helped me understand it more.

I doubt procrastination is an AS thing. I've read various books & articles on it, so it must be troubling neurotypicals as well.

For me, the solution to procrastination is to commit to certain measures when you're cool-headed and not when you are tempted. For example, I commit to do workouts on certain days/hours and I don't allow myself do anything else during that time. I am also setting barriers for me to get online and lose time on the internet, when I know I have work to do. I'm unplugging my modem when I'm studying and I usually don't bother plugging it again while studying. I delightfully do so though when I'm finished. If you have to do work online, there is software that you can set to block certain pages for a certain period of time, so that you can't access them while you're supposed to work.

Don't feel bad about giving into temptation. Counting on self-will alone hasn't got me anywhere personally, so when I'm not taking my precautions, I just admit to myself that I REALLY want to procrastinate and leave the guilt out of it. I think breaking big chores into small activities isn't very effective, because you would just delay the whole process too.

Well, not sure if anyone's mentioned it so far, but it could be ADHD / executive dysfunction related. Difficulty or an inability to follow through and do a task that you're supposed to do (aka take action in order to look out for your long term well being) is one main consequence.

I have ADD and that is one way it effects me. I may walk into a room with the intent of doing something, like scooping the kitty litter or unloading the dishwasher, then I see something else that must absolutely get done that exact minute. It simply cannot wait, so I think "Okay, I'll do this quickly then go back to what I meant to do" so I'll start doing the second task, then I'll notice something else that must get done, and the process repeats. Several hours later I'll realize I really didn't get anything done at all because I kept getting side-tracked. I use to think I was just lazy or not trying hard enough.

I'm the same way, if I'm not interest in something, I can't focus on it. I'm supposed to be doing hw right now, but I just can't focus on it. Once I get focused on it I'm fine for a while, until I get stuck, or distracted, or just stop, then I loose focus again and I'm back where I started. It been getting worse recently, now I'm staying up until at least midnight almost every night. I seem to be able to focus better when I'm tired and just want sleep, so I motivated to just get it done. Whats really driving me crazy is that I have to wake up at 5:00 on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, and sense I don't work well until its night and all my siblings are asleep I'm not getting nearly enough sleep. I used to have time to read at night, but now I'm just so tired all I want is to get everything I need to do done and then get some sleep.

Also if I am interested in something I may still have this problem if I'm at a part which is particularly tedious, boring, or hard (aka a part that does not interest me, but I still need to get done so the rest of the project which interests can be completed) or when I'm trying to work on four different things at once, but its not as much as a problem.

I do the exact same thing. I hate doing things that I'm not interested in, it's almost painful. Not to mention I hate doing things that I'm being forced to do or feel forced to do. Like sleep, for example. I don't like having to go to work or school because I'm forced to go to sleep by a certain time instead of when I feel like it. It only makes my insomnia worse because I focus on how much sleep I'm going to get if I fall asleep within 30 minutes, but I believe most people that have trouble sleeping do the same thing. I think I hate doing things I'm not interested in because it's taking away time spent doing interesting things. Makes sense. Though I'm not sure why I don't like doing things I feel forced to do. I do love sleeping.

And I can get so obsessed with things that I just forget to do anything else. I've gone months without talking to a friend by accident. I don't even notice because all I can focus on is the obsession. All I want to do is learn more and more about it and anything related to it.

It helps writing things down as a to do list. Possibly breaking it down too as tidy the whole house would make me want to just avoid it and want to lounge around on the couch.
The other thing is to get someone to help you. I've got a system with my employment support person. When I have an interview I now make an appointment and she will go over it with me and break it down into questions and tasks and print off the relevant bits. It forces me to do it as she says if I need to spend more time practicing, and also we go over niggly things I think of. On my own I just put off even looking at it - hence I am here! I go to see her in a while, which will help again.

Making a time is good e.g. for a phone interview she suggested not thinking about it before an hour before. I work part time and just want to go home and sleep and not bother with job searches. She suggested I did an hour twice a week after work at a specific time.

I don't clean up my place very often either. I think it's the same two reasons that have already been mentioned:

1. It's not profoundly interesting to me.

2. I don't know how.

The only help for 1. that I know of is to bite the bullet and start thinking about the job.

As for 2., I suppose it's to do with identifying the remit in concrete terms, though even that can be difficult. I nearly always get sucked into details instead of focussing properly on the overview of the project, so I'll end up removing every speck of dust from one item while everything else is still filthy. Also often fail to put my thoughts into words as I look at the job.....I get a few vague negative ideas and withdraw in horror. When I do put the thoughts into words, I begin to see why these tasks daunt me so much - I have little experience in cleaning.....I've filled my home with so much clutter that I'd probably die of old age before sorting it all out....there's no empty space I can use to sort things out in.....I don't want to throw anything away.....and it's just not worth it, it would be nice to live in a pretty room, but it would take so much time and money, and I'm probably just a scruff at heart, and I do so hate to knuckle under to those judgemental people who won't take anybody seriously if their environment doesn't look smart.

I'm very thankful I don't have the OP's management breathing down my neck. I can live as scruffy as I like. If I did have that gun to my head, I'd feel horrible about it and finally get it done, but I'd hate it. I like to do things gradually, so at the moment I'm limbering up to painting a radiator.

Actually the sheer complicatedness of cleaning and tidying might make quite a worthy special interest. I did once decorate a room I'd just moved into, and I did it to a standard far higher than the rest of the house. I took a few days off work, was generous with the budget, and thought about little else until it was done. But within the context of a scruffy house, it was bound to look posh, and in a more "refined" environment I feel some kind of social pressure to get it a lot neater, and the whole thing becomes a lot more daunting. Workplaces are usually untidy, and I'm not the kind of person to want to just sit about watching TV when I'm at home, I like to work on stuff, so I guess my home is always going to look something like a factory. I love electrical gadgets, so I have tons of cables and plugboards. The turnover time of the gadgets isn't predictable enough to make it worthwhile to put them all behind panels or whatever. I can't even hire a paid cleaner to do it all for me, because I don't want strangers messing with my stuff, as much of it is delicate and vulnerable....nobody in their right mind would be able to fathom the do's and dont's of the job.

Procrastination is annoying. I think it is part of AS, i've seen it in a lot of aspie quizzes. Could be ADHD though.


Write the task on your hand or something, or set alarms reminding you, every 10 minutes to make you focus.
This is what i do when i have to do college assignments.

As for tidying your room, how about just not making it messy.. I tidy my room 3 times a day. That's probably an OCD/AS thing, but it works.

I know that feeling of getting stuck on something far too well. What helps for myself is just turning everything off. I find that when the computer gets shut down, I am more likely to get things done that don't require it, such as cleaning up or doing chores. That's just me, though...not sure if that would help for you.

I agree with this, but with an exception.

ADD is often co-morbid with AS, as it is with me, and sounds like it might be for the OP as well.

If ADD IS part of the picture, procrastination isn't the problem. Focus is the problem, just as the OP indicated. ADDers are typically easily distracted, and lack the ability to effectively prioritize. This lack is not caused by consciously putting things off, which is what procrastination really is. It's caused by the incessant need to be "doing things" at every moment of every day of one's life. Planning, prioritizing and scheduling are exactly what ADDer's are not good at, because the process of doing so doesn't "feel" like your accomplishing anything (in the moment).

What the OP is describing sounds very much to me like ADD. Mixed with AS, ADD is doubly devastating, if not exponentially.

Having both really, REALLY sucks!

I would suggest the OP take a look around the following web site:

http://totallyadd.com/

I don't think anyone there knows much about AS, but if you have ADD too, it isn't hard to see yourself there.

i have exactly the same what you wrote down, i neglect everything until i am the best at my special interests, i have the biggest problem with actually GOING and DOING it there's always something that grabs my attention.., usually when i go clean my room(which is never really a mess since i am obsessed with cleaning and i'm a perfectionist) i always takes a day to clean it all up, maybe rubbish inspires me...