Stuck between a rock's attention span and a workplace

[matt1993]

Right now, I'm unsure of whether I should go ahead and go to college in fall 2011 like I'd planned, sit out for a semester, or sit out for a year (though if I sit out, I'll have to get a part-time job instead).

Reasons I should go ahead and go to college:- I'd have at least 3 years and 11 months to rid my mind of creative tumors before I get a job

Comments

[matt1993]

Get a big, unlined notebook (or whatever sort of blank book makes you feel happy and calm) and anytime you have a creative tumor, open to a fresh page and start writing about your creative tumor. Write every idea you have for it and any tangent you want to go on about it until you can't write anymore. If you run out of paper and have to go to a new page, do it. If you think of another idea in the middle, put it on a fresh page, then go back to your original idea until you're done. Then you can write about your new idea if you want.

This gives your brain a chance to "play" with your creative tumors without the pressure of actually doing them. It's really fun and sometimes it ends up getting them out by just giving yourself permission to spend a while focusing on them. "Refuse to Choose" calls this notebook your "Scanner Daybook". I just bought mine yesterday (though I've been scribbling ideas on blank pieces of paper in the meantime and it really does help!)

I could see that helping with my creative tumors, since I tend to forget ideas that I come up and spend long periods of time trying to remember them again (plus, in the case of programs, I can actually attempt to come up with a few lines of code even when not at my computer!), but I don't really think it will help with going off on a tangent.

Here is the example of my going off on a tangent that I used to describe it in autism:

- I'm reading Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring for a summer reading project for school
- I see the phrase "Let the little people blow!"
- That reminds me of a time on the Homestar Runner Wiki Forum when someone posted "Make the children really ring" (I have no clue what that means) in several of the forum games
- That reminds me of the vending machine forum game on the HRWF (even though I don't think that's one of the ones "Make the children really ring" was posted to)
- That reminds me of the scene with the vending machine in Toy Story 3
- I start thinking about other random scenes in TS3 until I realize I was reading LOTR, and I'm like, "Why was I thinking about Toy Story while reading Lord of the Rings?" Usually this question goes unanswered, but this time I went back through my associations in reverse order until I got back to "Let the little people blow!"

If I were to go back in time to just before this and tell my past self about your advice, and my past self thinks it means the same thing I'm assuming it does except that he thinks it will work for tangents, it would happen like this:

- Reads Fellowship of the Ring
- Sees the phrase "Let the little people blow!"
- Reminded of a time on the Homestar Runner Wiki Forum when someone posted "Make the children really ring" in several of the forum games
- Writes down "Make the children really ring" (25 letters × about ¾ second per letter = distracted for 18¾ more seconds than in the original version of the events)
- Reminded of the vending machine forum game on the HRWF
- Writes down at least one item inserted into the vending machine and what was received when it was inserted. In the best-case scenario, I would in fact write down only the shortest inserted/received item pair I remember: "*inserts ƨtɿɘƨni*" and "you get ʇǝɓ" (25 letters [counting asterisks] × about ¾ second per letter = distracted for at least another 18¾ more seconds; net loss: at least 37½ seconds)

...you get the idea. And that's not even counting the time it takes to put the book down and pick it back up. But still, it will probably help with creative tumors at least :)

The other reasons I think you should opt to go to college now are that your parents have already paid for it, so it's sort of like looking a gift horse in the mouth if you don't go. Also the fact that you've got a schedule of classes you like or would be easy should be encouraging! Not to mention the fact that they're geared for autistic students. You'll probably have a great time. :)

I've already decided to go ahead and go to college for at least one semester to see if I'm ready yet. :)

[kandigurl]

Well, I meant creative tangents, not thought tangents, I can't help you there. I end up having to re-read entire pages of books for that very reason.

[matt1993]

That's kind of what I thought. Thanks for clarifying!