Multitasking?

[P.P.A.]

In recent times I have found myself unable to keep up with my endeavours. There's many things I need to read, pictures I need to draw, chapters of my story to be written, and even a few games to be played and anime to be watched. However, a day is only so long and my speed at working through all of this has grown insufficient. Things pile up and I cannot do as much over the course of a sun's journey as I would like to, even if I'm diligent.

This is partially because I can only do one activity at once. While I take the liberty to keep chatting at the bearable expense of some speed, I'm unable to do any of the above simultaneously. If I write I can't draw at the same time, if I watch an anime I'm too occupied to read through wikipedia articles. Is there any way to increase my productivity to become faster and more efficient?

[Radrappy]

I hear where you're coming from. I also try to do a bunch of things at once, hoping that somehow it'll lend itself to productivity. The end result though is usually just my not getting anything done on all fronts. I'm actually going to suggest something that might seem painful but it has to be done every now and then: turn off the computer. Step away from the internet. This device is a source of multitasking temptation like no other.

Also, not to be a douche but too many of the posts as of late have been dangerously close to breaching commandment # 7. Just saying.

[Frieza2000]

For the last decade I've been getting increasingly more scrupulous about what I add to my list. Only the games and anime I really want get put on it, and other things get put on a list called "maybe someday" that I keep in the unlikely event that I become bedridden or stranded alone somewhere with nothing to do for several consecutive years. You might have to settle for adopting that strategy.

About 3 years ago I started staying up until 1-4 in the morning in an attempt to squeeze more productivity out of a day. It worked for a while, sort of, because the kind of work I was doing was stimulating enough to keep me awake. I was, however, frequently losing consciousness (or just awareness) for a few seconds at a time while driving to work. Eventually this stopped working, either because I pushed myself too far or because the work I was doing became less stimulating, and I started falling asleep everywhere and ended up losing net productivity. Attempt at your own risk.

I also considered getting one of these so I could watch/read stuff during any kind of downtime like waiting in line.

[Kogen]

Some professional tips:

- Stop reading wikipedia articles.

- Stop watching cartoons.

- Stop trying to write and draw. Pick one.


I thought autistics were supposed to be really good at focusing on things.

[P.P.A.]

oh u
Well I am and I always focus on just one thing but that's always at the expense of something else so I need to somehow split up and be able to do two things at once.

[Crowbar]

Nobody can write and draw at the same time.

Split up your time more efficiently or stop giving yourself so much to do.

[Delphine]

I need to somehow split up and be able to do two things at once.

This will never, ever, ever work with creative endeavors. Focus on one thing at a time. Period.

As for media -- it depends on how closely you want to view/read/etc the material. I can read a book and watch TV at the same time, but I don't do that with books/shows I'm really into.

[gr4yJ4Y]

Lately I've been doing my kanji practice and watching the Biggest Loser at the same time. The kanji practice involves writing the same kanji 43 times each before moving on to the next kanji. As you might imagine this doesn't take a lot of focus. So I kinda half watch the Biggest Loser and half practice kanji.

I just worry that I'm going to have flash backs to that show while I'm trying to read a Chinese map someday. Or start subconsciously associating different characters with different episodes.


Some advice on multitasking - figure out what you find most important in life and focus on that with anything else you have time for as just filler. And don't forget to sleep. Sleep is good and helps you live better.

[P.P.A.]

Sleep is for the weak, 5+1 (nap) hours is enough.

But yeah, I think it boils down rather to having so much ahead of me that the mere acknowledgement of that is slowing me down. I think I should simply dedicate a bit of time to eliminating all the stuff that's not as important so it's out of the way and I can focus on the really important things.

[Green Gibbon!]

I think I sleep too much.

Left uninterrupted, such as during vacations, I can easily sleep up to 10 hours a night every night. Even during a normal week, I go to bed at around 9:30, get up at around 6:15 - a solid 8 and a half hours at least, which according to all scientific literature should be plenty enough to maintain a productive daytime schedule - but I still always inevitably end up sluggish and sleepy by Friday.

Everyone I know insists they get around 6-7 hours a night, yet nobody ever seems to suffer the chronic sleepiness that always manages to overcome me by the end of the week.


So apparently everyone I know is lying or I'm not sleeping the right way. So how are you guys doing it? I usually lie down and shut my eyes.

[Shadow Hog]

Hey, if I had no particular plans for a day and could just sleep until whenever without any care in the world, I tend to find myself sleeping for ten hours at a time too. I also tend to have really bad headaches on the days I actually do this.

[Opa-Opa]

I can easily sleep up to 10 hours a night every night.

I hear ya. My record was 16 hours uninterrupted.

I suck at multitasking. If I have more than one thing to do, I break and do nothing, and then end up doing one of them on the last day and moment possible. Amazingly, this doesn't affect the quality of my work (in my opinion), but it tends to mess up the three days after that, in the sense that I can't sleep or I just don't want to do anything work-related.

[Delphine]

but I still always inevitably end up sluggish and sleepy by Friday.

What are you eating? Your diet has as much effect on your energy levels as the amount of sleep you get. You're in the land of rice and fish and not much else, so eating well shouldn't be much of a challenge.

If your eating habits are fine, then it's probably just that you're a lazy bastard.

[Wombatwarlord777]

I cannot multitask, myself. If I do, I literally become paranoid that none of my efforts will be any good and become discouraged. Luckily, focusing on doing one thing at a time is pretty easy for me, and my field of interests is relatively small, so my "waiting list" of media is pretty tiny.

Now, not doing what I'm supposed to do is what's going to be the death of me, but it isn't all bad. For instance, I was mindlessly wandering YouTube the other day and discovered the animations of Ivan Maximov after watching "Hedgehog in the Fog". I love accidental discoveries like that.

[Frieza2000]

I think I sleep too much.

I wasn't paying much attention, but I saw a TV program on sleep that said recent studies show that too much sleep will cause the kind of effect you're describing (I had the same problem during my college years, back when it was possible to get as much sleep as I wanted). Try setting your alarm and cutting it down to 8 or even 7 hours per night. You'll probably feel tired when you first get up, but you should feel better the rest of the day.

[Blount]

Probably true. I don't even get up until I can no longer hold my urine, so I sleep for over 12 hours on weekends.

Stress probably has something to do with it as well, considering this has been happening ever since my job started to slowly eat my brain.

[gr4yJ4Y]

I had a coworker who said he used to wake up in the middle of the night screaming because work was so stressful. But then he discovered alcohol and everything's been okay for him since.