Deep thinking, slow processing, problems task switching

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When I need to think about something carefully and understand it fully, I find I need to think about it for some time and process it carefully; this is what I think of as deep thinking mode. This deep thinking mode is essential for me to do any complex work, or when I'm trying to understand a complex topic.

When I'm doing this, most of my thought processes become committed to what I'm thinking about, I can forget to eat and drink, I bump into things etc. If I do realise that there is something else I need to switch to thinking about, or I am distracted by a person or noise, this can really disrupt my thoughts and can make me frustrated and really quite anxious, and it's difficult to get back to deep thinking mode.

Interestingly, I frequently become nearly deaf or poor sighted when in this mode; most sensory input, apart from that needed for the deep thinking, seems to be very poorly or slowly processed, if at all.

I'm not talking about the abilty to multi-task here, there are some other really interesting other threads about that on WP, but what the effect that having to deeply concentrate / think about something has on you.

Does anyone else experience the need to process things slowly when deep thinking, and a difficulty with task switching to think about something else, when you are deep thinking?

Do you have any strategies to handle this and help you get back to deep thinking mode if you have to break out of it?

I have no 'deep thinking' mode like described. I can hyper-focus on things but that is really just a higher level of concentration which can over-tune other thoughts or even sensory input. It seems to me that you describe 'deep thinking' to rather work by an opposite mechanism, that is you tune down everything else in order to gain more mental resources.
I do that only by changing environmental factors, like wearing noise protection headphones, minimizing distracting visual effects, making sure no one comes into my room and disturbs me, etc.

I experience this to a much lesser degree but I can relate. I liken it to when my computer's hard-disk light is on almost constantly, showing it is processing in the background. At those times my computer runs more slowly and less efficiently in other areas of functioning. During the times when I'm thinking deeply, I am obsessed with what I'm processing and I once joking referred to this mind-set as 'installing an update' because it seems so similar (in an abstract sense) to my computer!

I don't have sensory impairment during that time. It's far milder than what you describe. We're all different though! For me it plays out as being pre-occupied and seeming a bit absent-minded during that time.

That's a really great description of what I do.

Hyperfocus descriptions have never quite fit for what I do, though I'm sure if someone was observing me they might think it was hyperfocus.

An online IQ test suggested that the my computational speed (not quite sure what they exactly meant by this) was significantly different to other aspects of my IQ profile, generally about 20-30 points lower. No idea what that actually means in practice (aside of the fact that IQ test can be quite limited in assessing anything). Could suggest that my processing ability is somehow significantly different to other types of thinking I do - don't know what this would mean in neurological terms.

(edited to get full post- mobile got confused)

That sounds exactly like my fiction writing process. It's not really an opposite of hyperfocus, in my opinion. It's more like purposely engineering hyperfocus. I hyperfocus on video games. They pull me into an intense state of self and world ignorance sometimes. In this engineered hyperfocus, you push yourself into a state of lesser awareness by diving deep within your brain until you are intentionally devoting a lot of mental resources to deep thought. The way I return to that state is to reverse engineer it. Like COMPAQ describes, I create a sensory experience similar to the state of lowered awareness. I like to have a "writing album" or two, though. That extra bit of sensory stimulation provides enough direction to ensure that my brain focuses back down the same path.

I eggsperience very strong hyperfocus, in which I am completely inside my own mind, and there is no sensory stimuli coming into my awareness. I enjoy my hyperfocus, because I can get a lot of things done this way, or I can do a lot of thinking this way. The kind of hyperfocus in which I am still interacting with the world through my eyes and fingers at my computer, I consider Level 1. The kind in which I have blocked out eberrything is Level 2. I spent most of my childhood in Level 2 Hyperfocus, and that was how I survived school. Otherwise, I would have had problems with sensory overload, but as soon as I hyperfocused, sensory stimuli went away.

Unfortunately because think i am a ret*d when i think about things deeply because they say I think to slow.

Thanks for the really interesting replies.

I have in the past used music and earphones; it definitely has helped me to get into deep thinking mode, must go back to doing this.

My deep thinking, slow processing is generally not spotted by others, except when I go mildly deaf which happens rarely in front of others now. I can generally choose when I do it.

I have a kind of medium thinking mode as well, here the sensory input is dulled to but not so much. At home I have to deliberately notice my SO is talking to me, stop thinking about what I'm thinking about, and pay attention to him, otherwise I qget the hearing but not understanding problem referred to elsewhere. I've trained myself to switch to pay close attention when someone starts speaking. I sometimes might miss the qfirst couple of words but I can usually fill them in later.

In practice this means, I need to effectively ensure my thinking is very focused on wone thing when doing anything risky, like crossing roads or complex driving manouvres, ie at this point it is vital to pay attention to the risky thing not other thoughts!

I too remain concerned that some people thought 'slow' are just thinking deeply, but for whatever reason cannot switch out of this mode as easily as me.

I have to be able to immerse myself into what I'm doing or it won't come out right. Distractions and context switches are a killer.