Oh, I'm sorry -- did you say something? I wasn't paying attention.
Seriously, though. I do this *all* the time. My space outs have more than one form. I may become mentally " stuck on one aspect of a situation and keep on mulling it over while everyone else present has moved on to something else, and I get "lost" on my different mental wavelength. As a result of this, I don't respond appropriately to a given situation, and others around me take notice.
At other times, things just slow down for me, and information from my surroundings just seems to reach me more slowly. My processing speed and reaction time is significantly slower than the average person as it is, so when all of this gets even slower than my usual, it's a real problem. To other people, I just appear to be looking at what's going on, but not responding to the situation. That can make it look like I'm just lazy, like I don't want to be bothered when in fact my brain just hasn't yet put together what's right in front of me.
I also have the traditional space outs, where I "leave" mentally for a while, and just lose myself in my thoughts. I am able to suppress these space outs when the situation calls for it by forcing my brain to abandon its default "inward mode," and to focus my external environment. The effort that requires is exhausting to sustain though, and I'm tired all the time as a result.
So, yes, I know all about space outs. Spaced out is pretty much my default setting.
I'm off to play some lumosity (online brain training program) in a continued quest to stimulate my brain to function more effectively. I've been training daily since late November, and I'm hoping that I'll eventually see a positive difference in terms of my brain function. I haven't felt the payoff yet.
I like to think changes are taking place whether I notice them or not.
My brain processing speed to slower than the average person as well. Sometimes I'll space out if a person is talking to me if I'm bored or I'm nervous. When people are giving me instructions I tend to space out because an overwhelming amount of information and/or due to anxiety. I even space out when I'm reading if the environment is too distracting, I'll read the same page over and over again, maybe 10 times. When I read things I need to let it sink into my brain so I can process it. I can stare straight at the television and not absorb any of the information on tv, I have to actively try really hard to process information, whether I'm reading, watching television, listening to somebody talk or listening to music. It's one of my major learning disabilities.