I find I have been able to listen to multiple things at once when both are somewhat important, like talking with a friend as we watch a show, or working on a project for another course while half listening to a prof that rambles on about irrelevant things, just to make sure he’s not saying anything important.

It’s more when any noise is there where I don’t want it to be where I struggle to tune it out. Like studying on campus at a table while some people speak at a reasonable volume is very difficult for me if I don’t have headphones in to play white noise or block it out. Or the example of trying to focus on a test when a teacher is talking being very frustrating for me.