Calculating the environment

[Archer36]

Hihi!

So yes, I'm all new here as you know and I'm still trying to figure out if I'm a real Aspie or if i just have some trait. Obviously I'm a mild case, but i know I put some layers of knowledge and education and experience on top of my aspieness in an attempt to be more .. "normal" ... which didn't help much and pretty much confused me all my life.

Anyway, since I consider the possibility seriously, i started to pay more attention to my behaviors and compare them with what i remember from my childhood in an attempt to find what my real habits/behaviors were. One that I'm certain of, is that I'm calculating a lot. Not numbers, I suck with numbers, but situations ... i'll give an example:

I want to cook my diner and eat it in front of an episode of Stargate, lets say. Then in my head i start prioritizing the tasks I have to do to achieve that goal. So first i put the frying pan on the stove and put some butter in it ... then I go to the living room and turn on the tv and ps3, go back to kitchen, put the meat in the frying pan to cook. Go back to the living room and turn on netflix. While its loading, i go back to the kitchen, prepare the veggies and flip the meat. Fill up a glass of water and bring it to the living room, watch the intro of Stargate. Pause it, go back to the kitchen, take off the meat, and put the veggies in the frying pan, go back to the living room, fast forward the intro generic, pause again, go back to the kitchen, finish cooking the veggies, put all that in the plate go back to the living room and sit and watch while eating.

Its just an example. But I do that with everything. Same with my morning routine ... I think about how efficient I can be, and when i make mistakes, like forgetting my hat upstairs and i have to go back .. it really upset me. Same with my bed time routine, just forgetting to put my cellphone on the charge, its causing me stress.

So yeah, i'm always in that calculation/efficiency mode. I don't calculate numbers ... just sequences of things. Oh and when I have friends visiting, obviously they change everything, its really causing me stress too ... The wooden spoon doesn't go in that drawer ... "Go away, I'll do it!!! .. No! its not the proper way to do this!!!", I'm intelligent, i let it slide ... I say nothing, but inside, it makes me anxious.

Maybe I just spent too much time alone. *shakes head* ... That can't help. But since I was little I was like that. Sometimes its exhausting. Its stressful to always be worried about efficiency.
- when to got get fuel
- How to paint a door
- How to wash a car (i'm really good at it now )
- What road to take to get there
- How to spread peanut butter on a toast
- etc etc etc

So what do you guys think? I know its not bad to learn how to be more efficient, but when its causing stress, it can't be normal. And no, to me its not obvious if its an aspie thing or not. I'm still trying to connect the dots.

 

[Judge]

Sounds like you may have comorbidity to consider...such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

Like me. I have it, and just try to take it in stride. I got so good at time management the corporation I once worked for had me teach it to others. Make such organization work for you.

You might take the Yale-Brown OCD test just to see how you score on their scale....

 

[danielcollins]

I can sympathize with this, I don't have the same problems that you do but I definitely understand the need to break things down into steps.

It allows you to be more lean and as you say, efficient. I get really annoyed when I force myself into picking up good habits and they kinda fall by the wayside.. they just drop out the side of my head (short term memory is so poor).

It's probably part of a greater need to logically separate and compartmentalise things so you can be more organised.

 

[King_Oni]

I do this as times as well. However, and here's how I put it in perspective.

Why do I need to do things in the most effective way? Am I that short on time? Would it bother me to do things 5 minutes earlier? Is it wrong for me to wait?

Of course, my perspective comes with being unemployed and having all the time in the world. Doing something more effectively, just means I can procrastinate more

There are things I obviously review and plan ahead in these blocks of time, but that's more likely for practical reasons. I'm not going to walk to the mall twice on a day for instance.

 

[Vanilla]

Haha, yeah, I do that. I often have a plan before I get started, which can often surprise others when they are involved in the activity, and I already know the 'best way' to achieve this. I'm not generally a bossy person, but when I advise people on how things can be done more efficiently, they give me an odd look like I've put way too much thought in to my thinking process

I can go as far as calculating the best chair to sit on in a room I've entered, by determining the purpose of the room, whether I want to be at the front, where the action is, or hide in the background, decide if I need to be able to see or interact with objects/ people. Determining how close I am to the door, should I want to slip out early. Feeling the temperature, so I can sit by a window, or under the air con if needed, and even ensuring the seat I have chosen provides a positive feng shui feeling. I'd say I do go through this process for most situations, but am glad I do, as it saves me a lot of time and avoids frustration, which others seem to display frequently, when realising they've not thought about it, and change their minds after a decision has been made.

 

[tryingtoregister]

I do this alot too.. especially what you described Vanilla I always give the room a ton of looks and figure out the best spot to be in based on what I want out of being there (watch the tv, talk with others, easy way to leave, etc etc infinite etc sometimes). I find that I build a life routine over time, get satisfied with it, then it gets thrown off for some reason and my life just turns to crap for awhile because I have no routine so my routine becomes being nothing until i rebuild and start over.. I kind of make it akin to taking off, being in flight (which I love) and than crashing to the ground (which I hate), then contemplating if its worth taking off again.. repeat ad nauseam. Luckily lately I haven't let my job be affected by this, pre this job that I've had for about 3 yrs I never held a position for more than 6 months or so even min wage because I would turn to a **** employee and malaise as person. Either way, I do enjoy my routines they make it easy on me my mind tends to wander off from reality pretty easily so if I"m pre-programmed to do what needs to be done for whatever it is (morning routine/work/anything really) I won't forget what I wanted to do as often and mess it all up

 

[Autism]

Hihi!

So yes, I'm all new here as you know and I'm still trying to figure out if I'm a real Aspie or if i just have some trait. Obviously I'm a mild case, but i know I put some layers of knowledge and education and experience on top of my aspieness in an attempt to be more .. "normal" ... which didn't help much and pretty much confused me all my life.

Anyway, since I consider the possibility seriously, i started to pay more attention to my behaviors and compare them with what i remember from my childhood in an attempt to find what my real habits/behaviors were. One that I'm certain of, is that I'm calculating a lot. Not numbers, I suck with numbers, but situations ... i'll give an example:

I want to cook my diner and eat it in front of an episode of Stargate, lets say. Then in my head i start prioritizing the tasks I have to do to achieve that goal. So first i put the frying pan on the stove and put some butter in it ... then I go to the living room and turn on the tv and ps3, go back to kitchen, put the meat in the frying pan to cook. Go back to the living room and turn on netflix. While its loading, i go back to the kitchen, prepare the veggies and flip the meat. Fill up a glass of water and bring it to the living room, watch the intro of Stargate. Pause it, go back to the kitchen, take off the meat, and put the veggies in the frying pan, go back to the living room, fast forward the intro generic, pause again, go back to the kitchen, finish cooking the veggies, put all that in the plate go back to the living room and sit and watch while eating.

Its just an example. But I do that with everything. Same with my morning routine ... I think about how efficient I can be, and when i make mistakes, like forgetting my hat upstairs and i have to go back .. it really upset me. Same with my bed time routine, just forgetting to put my cellphone on the charge, its causing me stress.

So yeah, i'm always in that calculation/efficiency mode. I don't calculate numbers ... just sequences of things. Oh and when I have friends visiting, obviously they change everything, its really causing me stress too ... The wooden spoon doesn't go in that drawer ... "Go away, I'll do it!!! .. No! its not the proper way to do this!!!", I'm intelligent, i let it slide ... I say nothing, but inside, it makes me anxious.

Maybe I just spent too much time alone. *shakes head* ... That can't help. But since I was little I was like that. Sometimes its exhausting. Its stressful to always be worried about efficiency.
- when to got get fuel
- How to paint a door
- How to wash a car (i'm really good at it now )
- What road to take to get there
- How to spread peanut butter on a toast
- etc etc etc

So what do you guys think? I know its not bad to learn how to be more efficient, but when its causing stress, it can't be normal. And no, to me its not obvious if its an aspie thing or not. I'm still trying to connect the dots.

There is nothing abnormal about that behavior. That is multitasking while being able to mix in some fun. I do the exact same thing and I enjoy that tremendously.
When others mess up your routine then practicing patience exercises might help. But I would be the wrong person to ask because patience is not one of my strong points.

I had to laugh when reading about how you get things done. Very similar to my life style