Multitasking

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I think that when people talk about how good or bad they are at multitasking, they usually mean smaller tasks over a short time period (such as driving and solving maths problems simultaneously), _not_ meaning longer-term multitasking as in working on multiple projects over the course of a year.

Well, I think it looks like we can all agree it's nearly impossible to talk and work at the same time, and so in that sense "multitasking" is definitely a weak spot?


And I just gave it some thought, and I've decided that the least difficult kitchen job I've ever had was one in an institutional kitchen that provided "three squares" a day on a regular schedule. I thought that, yes, certainly I could do several things at once on that job, say cook spaghetti, hamburgers, and roast pork at the same time while stopping to serve a tray line and clean and prepare a tuna salad for the next day. But that's not precisely true... now that I think of it, I was actually breaking everything up into a series of single tasks that I did one at a time. It would be easy with practice, but tough the first time I tried it, and if someone else interferes with it things tended to fall apart. So, I guess I wasn't really multi-tasking after all.

It could be especially chaotic when I had to train someone. I could train someone just fine in a quiet environment with little interference (in fact everyone I ever trained caught on faster, worked better, and lasted longer at the job than anyone else... perhaps the calm, logical, precise, and direct lecturing style of Aspie speech, and the tendency to think of things in smaller parts and steps, lends itself perfectly well to training?), but it seemed like supervisors always wanted their "fair share" of attention while I was training, and the party-crowd I had to work around liked to drive up the noise and chaos factor as well. I always thought I'd lose my mind after a day of training, but it was always very rewarding to see my trainees out-performing everyone else's



That reminds me... does anyone have any clue why management would periodically want to pass out these goofy charts, and tell the employees to write down a schedule of everything we did every day? I never quite understood what they were asking for, and the result would be that I would, as I mentioned above, break down everything into the individual tasks and write those down, which would cover the entire sheet of paper and continue onto the back and cover most of that, with my best guess as to how much time it took/would-take (I've always been bad at judging time!) It meant that all my break time was wasted, because I'd have to spend my break doing this (I couldn't do that and my job at the same time.) The result, I think, was that I looked like a smart-ass, because management acted like they took it personally. But I really don't understand what they wanted from me

I am awful at multi-tasking. It is also exhausting. I'd rather have someone stick pins in me sometimes than go through that. Unfortunately everyone has to do it at some point.

Yeah, I think most aspies are much worse than the average bear at multitasking, our minds are kind of one track and only used to doing one thing at a time. I used to carry on so many IM conversations at once when I was younger, but I can't do that anymore. I like to talk to only one person at once, two at most on IM. in real life, only one person. If I try to cram too many activities into one day I get overwhelmed and I need a lot of transition time between them. Why not, though, everyone is different. That we have such a focus as a culture on doing as many things at once as humanly possible - like the advent of all these technological devices that are suppposed to let you check your email anywhere, any time, even when driving - are just asking for trouble , in my opinion. People are just going to get more and more stressed out until we all explode. I mean, you seldom see anyone ever doing one thing at a time anymore. People go for a walk and talk on the cell phone at the same time, they sit at a concert and fidget with their Blackberry, they read a book and watch TV at the same time, they do laundry while making dinner while talking on the phone.....I know a lot of this is even necessary to keep up with the fast pace of the culture and to get everything done when there are only so many hours in the day, but I would go crazy trying to do that many things at once. We're all going to work ourselves to death if it keeps up this way.

As I was saying, humans are crap at multitasking, regardless of whether they are aspies or not.

Driving and solving math problems simultaneously? Ask an NT to do that. They may try to do it to impress you, or because time is running short, or whatever ... but that's how lots of accidents happen. Most NTs can't multitask, at least not without getting into lots of hairy situations.

- Ray M -

I'm not good at mulit-tasking either, though you know women are supposed to be better at it then men. I can't talk and write on the computer at the same time. One or the other task will sought of fade out of my mind. I listen to music while i work, but i only really here it in between concenrtrating because when i'm actually writing i wont hear anything around me, or notice anything either.
I'can't cook and talk either, i'll ruin the food, this is so bad that i'vew banned people from the kitchen when i'm cooking at home.
I do watch tv and either switch channels to another programme in the break or go on the computer while ads are on, but techniquely thats not too things at once, but one at a time in close succession.

I have difficulty multi-tasking if one of the multi-tasks involves communicating with another person. It takes a lot of effort to focus on maintaining either a conversation or composing an email. Oftentimes this can upset the person I'm talking to because I will drift off in mid-sentence if the other project I'm working on distracts me. It's because it takes a lot of effort to stay on track when I'm talking to another person unless I'm completely focused on that. I think in general though it's not natural for humans to multi-task, but it is probably less natural for those with Asperger's, especially if one of those tasks involves communicating with another person.

This sounds familiar. As for me I think I have difficulty shifting between tasks when people are involved, but switching between things with no people involved goes fairly well, I think.

Cooking though is a nightmare. I can cook with one or two different things on the fire, but that's about it. I prefer to cook one-pot-meals where ingredients go in the pot by a certain chronology, best logically.

At work I'm in an eight weeks scheme and the rest looks pretty chaotic to me. I improvise a lot and that works rather good. I switch between tasks and sometimes I'm doing the wrong task for that time of the day. I see my co-workers do more different things on one day, but I wonder if that is really working or more like networking, because it looks inefficient.

Agreed. And it's not just in kitchens, it can happen across the spectrum of careers. And I agree with donkey, multitask = meltdown, at least if it happens to often. Aspieness at its prime.

Yes multi tasking is deffinantly much more difficult for me if conversation with somebody else is involved. Or if i get rushed and can't do things in the 'right' order.
I too drift off in conversations if i'm involved in something else, annoying people who are trying to talk to me.

I can't multitask. My attention tends to hyperfocus on one thing (whatever the stimulus happens to be at the moment) and I completely forget about everything else.

same here. The only multitasking I usually do is tv/computer or homework/tv, and I lose interest in one of them in seconds.

I often feel like I am spinning like a top as I try to do something. Like, if I am trying to work in an area and there are peope all around. Or trying to get a large room cleaned up. I can only get somewhere close to multitasking or doing multiple things if I am by myself. Then it's like the Tazmanian devil. Just trying to blast through tasks before anyone comes home or before someone interupts me.

Not only has this thread been reactivated, it just also had to be a multi-tasking thread.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr8qLknWJL0[/youtube]

I agree with the Professor. However, most people do not literally mean doing many things at the exact same time. Therefore, he's really just fussing over technicalities in the definition.

As far as multitasking as we know it, and its relation to Aspies. I worked at Waffle House for about three years. I have managed to handle a full store alone (2 waitresses didn't show up, another left, manager was horrible). That meant taking all the orders, keeping them in order, cooking them, and serving them, while also making sure glasses were filled at a reasonable rate, etc. It was very difficult and happened during my first 3 months as a cook. I was raised in a kitchen though, so my brain wasn't going as haywire as if I was trying to organize a ton of school work, like I am doing now. I also worked in a teleconference call center for 3 years. That was another story, trying to follow different scripting for 30 different calls that are all coming in at random in the same 10 minute time frame . . . yeah, didn't take them long to find me another position. That didn't do much better so I laid low and held the job as long as I could.

Asperger's Syndrome to the side, there are some things that we will pick up that we can do very well and others that just don't click.