Interactivity

[Keith]

I've felt for years that in class or when watching a movie, TV show, or game I have to be doing something. When watching TV I fiddle with the menus or commentate on what I'm watching. When watching an internet video I pause it every five minutes to do something and then come back for awhile.

 

[Berianireth]

Poor attention span? Yeah, I'm kind of an interesting contradiction actually. I have excessive tolerance for activities but I take mental breathers more frequently than most people. Makes you wonder what that says about our biology!

 

[Autism]

I have a huge attention span. I can outlast almost anyone and drive them to the brink of insanity at the same time. Special talent that drives my worst adversaries crazy.

 

[Atay]

I have a huge attention span. I can outlast almost anyone and drive them to the brink of insanity at the same time. Special talent that drives my worst adversaries crazy.

I'm the same way. It really helps in a debate because I usually don't tire. My problem is stopping. Example: Despite my usual lack of interest in appearance, I have decided to possibly completely change my style after about 20 years of the same. Even though I needed the sleep, I stayed up until 4am that night researching clothing on eBay that would fit my new exact style. Ridiculous. I really couldn't stop!

 

[LgndKllr24]

I do have a very short attention span quite often. I have noticed that when I am watching internet videos in particular. I think it's just too easy to go to something else for a while because you have access to so many things. So I will have the video in one browser window, and then every now and then I'll pause it and browse someplace else on the internet in another window, or look at Google Earth, or whatever. That's ironic that you mentioned the menus on the TV too, because I also do that. Even when I don't plan on changing the channel, I have the habit frequently of bringing up the channel menu and just scrolling through it.

 

[Autism]

I will think on so many tracks that I automatically switch over to other tasks while having about 10 other tasks on the back burner. That is just how my mind works. I really like it that way or I get bored otherwise.

 

[KassieMac]

I've felt for years that in class or when watching a movie, TV show, or game I have to be doing something. When watching TV I fiddle with the menus or commentate on what I'm watching. When watching an internet video I pause it every five minutes to do something and then come back for awhile.

I do that, but I wouldn't call it a poor attention span at all. In high school I would do my homework during class while the teacher was lecturing just to keep from being bored. I still heard & absorbed the entire lecture, but it was moving so slowly that I'd get frustrated & feel like it was wasting my time. The only way I could keep my mind on the topic was to do the related assignment at the same time. I've done the same thing at every job, I always have something at hand to do at the same time ... it makes me very efficient and my work is still very accurate. I never fiddled with onscreen menus on TV, because I hate wearing my glasses at home so I need the picture to be full size ... but now I find myself doing things on my phone while watching TV ... or listening to something informative/educational while doing things online. If I don't, I get really bored, lose interest & fall asleep.