Seeing the Future
Does anyone else have trouble planning ahead, especially when it's something that diverts from your usual routine? And is this the kind of thing they talk about when they bring up "the Big Picture" that aspies have so much trouble seeing? Personally, I've always had a very difficult time deciding what to do next, unless, as I said, it was something I routinely did next. Cleaning my room, for instance, has always been a stressful thing to set to. I'll stand in my doorway and try to figure out a plan. Where do I start? What's the most efficient way to do this? I can never decide, and so I usually put it off for even longer, or else I start on it and stick with it and find it takes me far longer than an apparently simple task should.
It all comes down to this, I think: If I don't have a clear idea in my head of how things will go down, I don't want to get into it. That's why sticking to routines feels safe-if I've done something enough times, there's no question about what comes next, and, thus, no stress. Why is that? Why can't I see very far ahead? Why is every task I'm not intimately familiar with (not a routine task) all a jumble of seemingly endless details, with no clear notion of how they all fit together?
It all comes down to this, I think: If I don't have a clear idea in my head of how things will go down, I don't want to get into it. That's why sticking to routines feels safe-if I've done something enough times, there's no question about what comes next, and, thus, no stress. Why is that? Why can't I see very far ahead? Why is every task I'm not intimately familiar with (not a routine task) all a jumble of seemingly endless details, with no clear notion of how they all fit together?