Multi tasking

Post Reply New Topic

apparently one of the AS traits is difficulty with multi tasking- ie doing more than one thing at a time or concentrating on more than one thing at a time.
i was wondering though, do all Aspies have this problem? it came to my thoughts because i know that men in general have a problem with multi tasking anyway. So maybe becuase more men are AS, maybe that's why it's become an AS trait? (i'm just thinking out loud really)
personally i'm so so with multi tasking. If i'm doing something manual - i can think at the same time. But if i'm trying to concentrate on a mental task, i need to be in a quiet environment.
So driving isn't a problem, but if i'm trying to write a letter-noise will stop my mental flow.

I can multi task with physical activities but have a hard time doing that with mental activities as I like to really concentrate on these and can't really do that when I'm doing more than, maybe, two at once and those two have to be related in some way.

Multi tasking is not to hard for me the thing that stuffs me up is I have not concept of time so if I have to keep switching with in a time limit no way will it work (the art of cooking springs to mind). Where if I can meandered thro at my own speed switching my attention when I want then I am fine (up to 3 ish things.) But I have only been abile to do that in the last couple of years there was no way I was doing any multi tasking when I was younger, I hade trouble talking and walking at the same time (no joke.)

I have an exteremely hard time multi-tasking with mental tasks. For instance, customers always seem to want to ask me questions about un-related subjects while I've got my mind involved in a particular task. For instance, the other day I was attempting to color-balance some cameras. Totally engrossed in the job with a tweaker in hand, and an eye on the scope, the user asks "I've heard a strange clicking noise come from the sound system lately, would you have any thoughts as to what it may be?" I replied with an answer related to the camera by saying " The capacitors are getting weak on the encoder board" The customer called me on the phone the next day, and asked me where the encoder board was in their sound system, and that they wanted to remove it and send it to me for repair! I had to tell them that the encoder board was in a camera, not a sound system, and that I had already replaced it! I then helped them with their sound system.

Phoning and driving is always a bad and dangerous thing for me to do too, and when the phone rings while I'm driving, I just let it ring. There are countless other multi-tasking disasters that happen in my life. I try not to multi-task, and make sure that I don't put myself into situations requiring it. Unfortunatley, modern life not only requires it, but also literally demands it. Other people actually get annoyed when you are tending to multiple things at the same time.

Just today my husband told me "You can't multitask." He was kinda stating the obvious - lol, I can hardly even keep my attention on one thing. Add something else and I'll completely forget about one of the things I'm supposed to be doing... It's like there's only room for a limited amount of stimuli in my brain. When something new comes in, the thing I was focusing on leaves to make room for the new input.

I have no problems multitasking. It's more the opposite. I have problems doing only one thing.

I have though about the phoning and driving thing, and I believe I have figured out why it is so dangerous. People have talked on CB radios, HAM radios, and even with passengers within the vehicle for years without too much of a problem. Police and other rescue workers have always talked on radios too. Why is the cell phone causing so much problems? Debate has ensued about this, and it's usually the argument as to why people should be allowed to talk on the phone. The flip side of the phone argument (Ha...a pun!) is that users of cellular phones typically engange in more mind-intense conversations, like business and things, versus the typical user of say, a CB radio who is casually chatting.

The problem is not the conversation, it's the phone, and it's technology! Lets look at how a cell phone works... It digitizes audio sounds, and turns them into computer data that can then be handled through data networks, and other information systems. Now, why is cell phone service so cheap? It's because you can cram a more calls on a tower today than you ever have been able to in the past. So, why can you cram more calls on a tower? Two things...Data compression, and reduced RF power.

First, the data compression. When the cell-phone receives your voice into it's microphone, and it's converted to computer data, it's also compressed, to reduce the bandwidth needed. Less bandwith means more calls per tower. Compressing the data removes portions of the sound information that are deemed as insignificant. The brain at the other end then must replace this missing information to interpret the speech. It is usually done subconciously, but it does take brain power to do...brain power that is not being used to concentrate on the highway ahead. or any other task at hand. A cell-phone obviously doesn't have sound quality of a HiFi stereo!

The other half of the equasion is the reduced RF power of modern phones. This is done not only to make phones smaller, but to reduce their footprint. More calls can be made when cell phones are occupying a smaller "footprint" In other words. Other cell phone users can be on your same frequency, but if they are far enough apart that they won't receive each other, there's no interference. By reducing the power, and increasing the cell towers, you can inrease the total amount of users in a city. The problem with reducing phone's power is that it also reduces it's performance. The connections break up and distort frequently. Again, your brain must put together the missing components of the conversation, and again, it takes brain power to do that, both subconcious, and conciously. We've all had a phone break up, and you know how challenging it is to interpret what is being said.

I am quite suprised this argument has NOT been ever brought up in the Phoning while driving debates...It seems pretty obvious...but then again, those debtating it are not aspies

I can multi-task physically, as long as it's not something that also requires a high degree of mental concentration. Mental multitasking has always proved futile.

Multi-tasking in any way leaves me with nothing completely done, and what is in the process of being completed is in shambles. I have to do one thing at a time. I find interruptions make getting back on task one of the hardest things to accomplish.