Multitasking

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How many of you with autism have trouble multitasking? That's always been a bit of a difficulty for me.

Yeah, I can't be on sub side at work, which is purely multitasking. Yech. It is too much of a strain. On the other hand, I have moderate ADD, so I tend to switch between activities a lot. I like to read, take a break for video games, then read again. When I am online, I do this as well. However, when receiving, say, verbal commands, I feel like I have to do them almost immediately. I need to take things step by step or else I get overwhelmed.

I almost can't do only one thing at once, unless it really interests me, but that's probably due to my ADHD.

Anything but ADHD. Still can't multi task worth a crap. Big surprise; no one else can either. All the time I'll realise someone is half with me on the phone. I'll ask: Multitasking? Invariably, I'll get a sheepish yes.

I also have difficulty with multitasking but I'm not sure that it's an AS thing, at least in my case. A lot of people are bad at it.
Doing tasks one by one may take a bit longer but it seems that for me, doing them this way is easier because I can concentrate more and am less likely to make a mistake.

gee, just one more thing to remind me of me. sigh. when i was growing up it was said of me that i couldn't walk, talk and chew gum at the same time, and that wasn't far from the truth. am no expert on these things but i have long wondered if it was an AS thing or just a part of being cognitively dull [slow-thinking and reacting] in general.
in any case, i must do things strictly one at a time, i have to keep my mind on my work because any distraction will make me switch to the thing that distracted me. this is a great frustration to me because it prevents me from being a better musician, as musical performance DEMANDS fluent multitasking.

pardon me, but i have to ask- if nobody can multitask then how are musicians explained? not all of them but specifically people like theatrical pipe organists and "traps" drumset players who have to do at least 4 separate things with each limb simulataneously, "on the fly" as it were. the theatrical organist has even more on his plate, due to the "second touches" that enable his instrument to play 2 separate things with the same fingerings on each manual. if this is not multitasking, then what is it? this "enquiring mind" wants to know.

Multi-Tasking Adversely Affects Brain's Learning
http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/8354


The Multitasking Mess
http://www.magazine.ucla.edu/depts/quic ... titasking/


The Myth of Multitasking
http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publicati ... ltitasking


Is multi-tasking bad for your brain? Experts reveal the hidden perils of juggling too many jobs
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic ... -jobs.html


and one more....


Study finds people who multitask often bad at it
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/2 ... 67774.html

I don't know. I thought I could, once I didn't get a promotion because my bosses laughed and said I couldn't do it because I couldn't multi-task. Up til that point I thought I could. I am not sure about this.

I can multi task.

then you are talented.

theatrical pipe organists [wurlitzer players] and drummers routinely multitask with great facility. just watch one at work, one cannot avoid noticing it.

actually... no, they don't.

they play drums... or they play the organ... or they juggle (RTA!!)

they do not really multitask across different things, like playing drums and answering the phone while reading an email.... it will degrade there musical skills right away if they did.

Not hard to watch TV and do this (even though I miss what goes on) or do this and listen to music or doing this and I am playing my game and then I put it down and do this. I can't keep my focus on one thing. I even have more than one tabs open. I jump around and my husband says that's my ADD. I even leave my posts unfinished and do something else online and then I forget about my post and then I see it and go "oh" and keep working on it.

But it's hard to talk on the phone and do this because then I zone the person out as I am reading. Same as when I watch TV. If I am listening to the show, I zone the person out on the phone. That's why I hate phones.

And I've done it at work too.

I have a very hard time, multitasking. I also have a hard time, moving from task to task.

i can multi-task when trying to get all the chores/tasks that i dislike out of the way asap, otherwise i can't focus on just one (maybe due to adhd). however, when i do my research or my hobbies, they require my full concentration