cooking, especially everything that comes before the actual cooking–deciding what to cook, shopping for what you need to cook, having the kitchen in a fit state for the act of cooking…
turning the car on and off–I am the person that always makes that horrible sound because she tried to turn on the car when it was already on. Then at the end of the trip I often get the sequence of events wrong—“dang, key to off before foot off the clutch” The in-between part, the driving, I do fine.
What is easier:
remembering all the rulers of England (though not their dates)
taking SAT tests.
Sadly, neither of these seems to come in real handy in daily life.
It’s very hard for me to tell a story well because i always forget something or put it in the wrong order and so it comes out all convoluted.
I am quite good at being empathetic and it seems that many people have a problem putting themselves in others places.
Easier: techie stuff. I just get computers and machines. Sometimes I can fix a broken framistat* just by laying on hands.
Harder: social stuff. I just don’t get people for some reason. I have friends and I’m comfy in social situations, but I usually don’t understand why most people act the way they do.
Opening gifts in front of people and not feeling horribly awkward and fake. Even if I like the gift.
Cleaning “as I go.” It’s always a project with me, because I let it go.
Keeping secrets. Even Christmas-present “secrets.”
Planning anything ahead of time.
Getting anywhere on time. Period.
Ironing. (I suck at it!)
Remembering to mail birthday cards. I buy 'em, I just forget to mail 'em. Happens all year long.
Easier:
Talking to people. I can talk to just about anybody, and put 'em at ease.
Spelling.
Reading and comprehending just about anything I’m interested in; it’s weird. If I care at all, I just absorb it, and can almost recite it later. This is why I’m also freakishly good at trivia, unless it’s sports-related.
I am also, if I do say so myself, an excellent gift-giver. Better than some, definitely.
I’m a grad student in physics and am regularly surprised by how different I seem from my fellow grad students.
Harder for me:
Classes. I’ve never been great at traditional classes - lectures, exams, final exams, problem sets. I got by until grad school by always having classes that had enough ‘other’ grades that it all evened out. I can write papers, do labwork, get Participation Points, etc. And I can do all right on problem sets. But exams and I have just never gotten along. I managed to make it through the written prelim exam so I’m almost done with 'em.
Remembering everything at once. When you hit grad school - you’re supposed to know the stuff you learned in undergrad. Now that I’m on the second or third time through the stuff - it’s starting to stick. But I probably don’t remember something from a class I took 3 years ago, even if I understood it at the time. And I certainly don’t know who’s name is attached to what equation.
Easier for me:
Working in groups. Be it study groups, research groups, committees, teaching teams, anything. The little bit of effort that it takes to organize a study group has never seemed taxing to me. I’ve watched others try to pull it off and you’d think it was rocket science. Sure - they may be hoping to study rocket science, but scheduling the room to do so doesn’t seem like the difficult part to me.
Writing and Presenting. So long as I know what it is that I’m trying to write about, that part is easy. Same with oral presentations / poster presentations. I don’t find them terribly stressful - either to prepare or present.
And by far, the number one thing that is easy for me and difficult for my peers: Asking for help and admitting when I don’t know what’s going on. It may help that I have a very clear ‘confused face’ and thus everyone already knows that I don’t understand.
Harder for me … navigating to someplace… even if I have been there a dozen times… I have no sense of direction at all and no ability to make any kind of mental map.
Easier for me … baking and cake decorating. People are always amazed at how easy I make things look.
Functioning on less sleep than I need. If I lose sleep I just can’t handle it.
Keeping my house organized.
Working in groups. I’d rather work alone at my own pace. I don’t like it when I understand what’s going on and I have to slow myself so the slower people in the group can catch up. I’d rather do twice the amount of work alone, in that case.
Easier:
