While I sincerely value how my #neurodivergent brain so deeply & fully engages with anything I encounter...
...sometimes I REALLY envy the ability to engage with many things simultaneously on a surface level
(Like, for example, be able to stay semi-active on Mastodon while writing a research-intensive article instead of having to ghost out entirely in order to focus 🙃)
@MarkRDavid
I guess I could have worded this all better... I absolutely value it when I can hyper-focus.
What I'm struggling with is the fact that I can't seem to do things well or stay properly "oriented" with them without excluding ALL other aspects of my life (which I very much want to have in my life).
It's how I ended up erasing SO much of myself to keep my educational nonprofit going for the last 10 years.
That kind of "flattening" of my life has been devastating.
I take it day by day. On writing days, I do my morning routine, after which writing only until I finish: brain-dead, or time to start dinner for the family.
But I keep a to-do list of neglected stuff that eventually needs to get done. When that gets alarmingly long (or on the occasional day I wake up and just don't feel like writing), then I attack it. Enormous amount of satisfaction gained from physically crossing things off it.
@MarkRDavid
Ha! I’m currently writing at a cafe. But I’ll do a combo. Yes I’m in public around people, but I also have headphones on playing brown noise :)
@EmilyMoranBarwick@MarkRDavid@actuallyautistic
I'm a software engineer, not an author, but I use sound tactically. When I need to solve a difficult problem, I'll pace the floor (or the garden), talking aloud, gesturing with my hands, and generally embarrassing Helen if we have people here. 😄 If I'm working on something of medium difficulty, I'll use a very familiar playlist to give me a little energy and block out the world. If I'm tired or trying to power through something boring, the I'll use raucous music as an audio amphetamine.
Why do I wave my hands about? Because I'm building data structures in the air. Autists think in a more visual way than neurotypicals.
@Uair
Oh I constantly have a billion things running simultaneously in my brain.
But it seems like the only way for me to stay "fully oriented" to something (whether it be a research paper, the Mastodon community...anything) is for it to be a primary-to-the-point-of-exclusive focus.
I can't seem to successfully shift in and out of many things without then doing ALL those things crappily, rather than one thing well.
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