The human had trouble staying on task. They were constantly distracted or would set their work aside "just a moment," and end up having to be reminded, albeit gently, of the work they still had to do.
(ADHD is more common than people think.) -- Anon Guest
[AN: I don't have ADHD, but I do a remarkable impersonation thereof. I am willing to be wrong about this and therefore welcome any input with ADHD people who know the experience better than I]
Excellent at multitasking, the assessment said, and the notes from previous ships added, might need some friendly intervention.
Human Xyle could multitask. Ze could do several tasks at once. Different alerts to attend each task helped, but there was a limit. Three tasks, ze excelled. Five, ze was fine. Seven presented a minor difficulty, but more than that?
Something got put down and left there. Unless the Companion stepped in to remind them. Friendly intervention.
Companion Ous tried to keep Xyle's workload between three and five. She learned from her mistakes. Less than three left the poor soul so bored that they looked for other things to do. Four was optimal, but there were times...
"Lipo feed," said Ous.
"Oh yeah," said Xyle, and leaped to correct that one. Left forgotten in the rush of demand.
That happened so many times that Ous lost count. It was a very exhausting shift, and they were both glad for a shift off after it was done.
"Of all the days when the uppers weren't needed," Xyle rolled hir eyes. "Ugh. What a shift. Wow."
"Uppers?"
"Oh. Yeah. That. My braining medicine. I have ADHD and uppers actually help me focus on the boring days." Xyle shrugged with one shoulder. "It's weird but it works."
Ous frowned. "You still need at least three tasks to keep things interesting," she said.
"I never said it worked perfectly."
[Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash]
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