Short attention span

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I have always had a short attention span. When I go to places, I am walking around looking at things and then I am done. I do not need to stand there and stare at it like lot of other people do.

As a kid I would always get frustrated because I would get bored by waiting to go look at other things. Like when we go to the zoo or to a museum, I could not understand why people need to stare at something, why do they do it? I still don't understand it. Especially at the zoo I would see the animals and then be done but why did others have to stand and stare at them. Okay we saw them, we watched them, do we need to watch them for 30 minutes? (an exaggeration because it seems to be forever when people look at something).


Even yesterday, my boyfriend and I go to the Oregon State Fair to see Weird Al and we leave early so we can go on the rides. Well, we look at the exhibits and my boyfriend had to stand and stare at them and I had to keep pulling him like he was a little kid. Damn it, do people need to stare at it. He saw it so why keep looking at it?

Even my ex said I have a short attention span of a seven year old because I get bored quick. My boyfriend says I have a short attention span of a five year old.


Does anyone else here have a short attention span?

I never before thought about how this was short attention span too. Yes, that's what I do too. Especially at the zoo or at parks.

Or when a friend is looking at something for a lengthy period of time (1-2 minutes in real time), it seems like forever. I absolutely cannot look at the things together with them because they take ages!

I can never wait for people to have finished talking, because to my mind everyone is talking too slow. And if they're talking that slow, my mind starts to wander, I just accidentally stop listening or I'm distracted by something.

I also manage to read a few sentences, but then get distracted. I have tricks to remind me of having to read (or continue to do something else), but I can't stop not stopping every 2-3 sentences. I have hand/finger signs, take what I read into my hands, always try to look at everything just to make sure that when I'm distracted I get back to what I'm doing asap.

It happens sometimes that I have a bad AD(H)D-like day and when I'm dancing on a day like that for example, I can't even really watch a step when I'm hyper.

If it's something that doesn't interest me, then I have a short attention spam and can't wait to move on to another subject/thing. When it's something that I'm interested my attention span is longer. I can watch my favorite animal at the zoo for half an hour, but I can lose my concentration after one minute of listening to something uninteresting.

Yes i do, my span is of a 5year old child somebody once said, some things i stay intensively focused on like rubbing my pot for hours or rubbing my phone against my mouth, but other things like staying on the computer minutes later im off wandering lol

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I don't know really, I am very impatient most of the tiem with anything, but when I work on the computer and try to make a vdo clip I can be concentrated until it is finished, on the other hand i have 5 or 6 windows open on the net and switch easily from one to another when I get bored. reading a book is more diffiult.

I can get absorbed but I ever so often lok how many pages I have read or will have to read or when I wil reach the end of the chapter. I also drift of in thoughts easily of things in my mind I have to do an dhave to read over and over the same paragraph. But reading sentences I have difficulties understanding the construction of sentence, especially when in a sentence you have to negatives like : "I don't konw whether he won't do it" and the likes...

I was diagnosed with ADHD as well, and my attention span stinks. For instance I was at my friend's house the other day and she wanted to show me something that she had made.. I suddenly looked over to the tv and didn't hear a word that she said. So my attention span is pretty bad.. UNLESS it comes to something that interests me, then my attention span is great Sound familiar?

In those situations, if someone else wants to look at something I will generally put up with it and keep looking at said object.

Eg at a zoo once I'm done looking at the animals I will go on to look at the enclosure which keeps me entertained enough for the minute.

This obviously doesn't work in some places where there isn't that much to see so I just zone out/become grumpy depending on how tolerant I feel like being

What was the question??? Oh yeah, short attention span! Yeah, I get bored really easily unless it involves one of my interests. Then wild horses couldn't tear me away!

I have a short attention span because not interest level in things are low. And also it's hard for me to keep up with the conversation when people are talking. It's hard to actually feel what they are saying.

yes, I often do

I often don't stick to a story concept long enough
so have to write my books in chapters so I can get anything done

this also applies for supermarkets im in go round every aile start to finish and leave i ahte going shopping with other who stroll round comparing prices and choosing things to get going up differnt aiels then having to backtrack

I've never had trouble with OOH A BIRD! HEEHEEHEEHEE *runs after it*

I think at the zoo, people take longer than the OP because (unlike the OP) they're observing the animals' behaviour - which obviously takes a lot longer than just observing their appearances .... ie - they're waiting for it to do something.

Now, I'm TERRIBLE in a natural history museum because things like bones fascinate me because I'm always intrigued by what the functions of the different shapes in them are.

And then there are the stuffed exhibits.
When I look closely at them, my mind is filled with all kinds of fascinating questions - and the joy of figuring out fascinating answers.

I could seriously spend a month in the London NH museum.

No, seriously.

i seem to have one when I go to the mall with my mother... she has to stop and EVERY rack of clothing and oogle it.