I have a cognitive problem and I figured someone might be able to help with it.
I think I might have trouble filtering stimuli, or something similar. A dog barking, an ear ache, loud people, or a really long day can break me down. I start to have difficulty focusing. I can’t hold complex concepts in my head. I’ll often start a task, and quit in the middle because it feels too difficult and try to switch to something else, ultimately getting nothing done. I’ll have difficulty deciding what to work on. I’ll start to panic or get intimidated. It’s really an issue.
I’ve found two things that help:
Music is good at filtering out noise and helping me focus. However, sometimes i can’t listen to it or it is not enough.
The other thing is to make a extremely granular tasklist and then follow it without question. The tasks have to be really small and seem manageable.
Anyone have any suggestions? I’m not neurotypical in the broader sense, but I don’t believe I fall on the autism spectrum.
I have similar sensory issues on occasion and believe them to be a component of my autism, but if you don’t have other features of an ASD then this could just be a sensory integration disorder. When it’s an auditory processing issue, I find that listening to loud techno or other music with a strong beat helps more than other types of music, and ear-covering headphones help filter out other noise. I’m more often assaulted by textures, which I have to deal with by avoiding contact with the item(s).
As for the long day, that sounds like a matter of running out of (metaphorical) spoons. Paying attention to what activities drain or replenish said spoons, and choosing spoon-neutral or spoon-positive activities whenever they’re viable options, is the way to manage this.
I have a cognitive problem and I figured someone might be able to help with it.
I think I might have trouble filtering stimuli, or something similar. A dog barking, an ear ache, loud people, or a really long day can break me down. I start to have difficulty focusing. I can’t hold complex concepts in my head. I’ll often start a task, and quit in the middle because it feels too difficult and try to switch to something else, ultimately getting nothing done. I’ll have difficulty deciding what to work on. I’ll start to panic or get intimidated. It’s really an issue.
I’ve found two things that help:
Music is good at filtering out noise and helping me focus. However, sometimes i can’t listen to it or it is not enough.
The other thing is to make a extremely granular tasklist and then follow it without question. The tasks have to be really small and seem manageable.
Anyone have any suggestions? I’m not neurotypical in the broader sense, but I don’t believe I fall on the autism spectrum.
I have similar sensory issues on occasion and believe them to be a component of my autism, but if you don’t have other features of an ASD then this could just be a sensory integration disorder. When it’s an auditory processing issue, I find that listening to loud techno or other music with a strong beat helps more than other types of music, and ear-covering headphones help filter out other noise. I’m more often assaulted by textures, which I have to deal with by avoiding contact with the item(s).
As for the long day, that sounds like a matter of running out of (metaphorical) spoons. Paying attention to what activities drain or replenish said spoons, and choosing spoon-neutral or spoon-positive activities whenever they’re viable options, is the way to manage this.
Thanks for the advice. The only other symptom I have is some problems with my social coprocessor, but it doesn’t feel like it fits an ASD.