ADD Support Thread II - Page 27

[heidirk]

Well, I'm up to my ears in life, as usual. .. .


how is everyone?

[smeisnotapirate]

I'm good. Busy with the house, and dealing with ignorant people.

LIfe as usual, I guess.

[pookel]

I had this revelation about ADD I keep meaning to post here and I never feel like I have the time or organization skills to put together the whole thing. Irony! :

I'll just go ahead and put it in a non-eloquent nutshell. I realized I spent my life overcompensating for my ADD by allotting myself extra time to do things, to make sure I'm not late. As a result, I feel like things take much longer than they really do, which actually gets in the way of getting things done, because I think it's too much work and I don't even get started.

Did you know that it only takes about 5 minutes to empty the dishwasher, for example? It really does! You don't have to plan your whole afternoon around it! :

Anyway. I've made a point of trying to do something in the kitchen any time I'm waiting for something, even if I'm just microwaving something for a minute. You can get a lot done in a single minute. It's amazing. Like, stacking all the dirty dishes neatly in one corner of the counter, throwing all the trash away, and putting the cans in the recycling container. Voila, counter is halfway to clean, before the microwave even beeps.

I'm much better at actually doing this stuff while I'm on Adderall, of course, but I'm trying to learn new habits that will work even when I'm off it, yk?

[flminivanmama]

I do that a lot! how funny - very specifically a cleaning task while I am waiting for the oven to heat up or something....

[smeisnotapirate]

I feel the same way, pookel!

[heidirk]

yup. it works better than a timer, becuase usually I'm waiting for my coffee to heat up! : so I know I have a reward coming for that 2 minutes of work!




class is going well.

hopefully construction will start in two weeks.

[jessjgh1]

Ah, I never plan the extra time to do things, so I can get them done, I just squeeze them in to the last minutes because I agonize every second over how much I'm NOT doing till its the last minute.... or redo every single tiny detail till the last minute. Not very effective in either case...
On the otherhand, I totally agree, I can actually wash the dog in about 5 minutes, it really doesn't need to be put off because it is going to take too long!
There are just sooo many things I get all worked up about and them I'm like, "wow, I'm done! That was so much easier than I thought."

Jessica

[jessjgh1]

Hmmm, on the other hand, there are some tasks, for me, like most writing-based tasks that do take me a abnormally long drawn=out and miserable amount of time. And I likely will try to do all the little tasks I can find (like empty that dishwasher) just so I can avoid it. It should really just take me 5 minutes to do most writing tasks (or at least to draft them, with a bit longer for editing) and it can take me 30 min or more- so a lot of wasted time... because that's when I do it, theres often a lot of time spent trying to do it or wasting time not doing it.

Also back to the washing dishes example, my parents (or maybe just dad) were sticklers about the multi=tasking little tasks and maximizing tasks... like doing things in the kitchen while the toaster (didn't have microwaves when I was a kid) was down and placing the dirty dishes on the counter to maximize efficiency for later dishwashing (again, no dishwasher growing up, I was the dishwasher). I remember being home as an adult (parents had gotten a dishwasher) and I would get yelled at for not loading it properly-- ie the way they had figured worked 'best' for their dishes and dishwasher.
On one hand these are helpful things, but I think it magnifies the ADD in a certain way, too... that you HAVE to be SOOOO efficient ALL the time. That you have to think about every single task and strategize.... etc. That you can't just veg out while the microwave is heating up something, but need to be doing something, etc.
My dad is a bit of a perfectionist and my mom I'm pretty sure has ADD, so perhaps just for me an odd combo.

Jessica

[heidirk]

Originally Posted by jessjgh1

On one hand these are helpful things, but I think it magnifies the ADD in a certain way, too... that you HAVE to be SOOOO efficient ALL the time. That you have to think about every single task and strategize.... etc. That you can't just veg out while the microwave is heating up something, but need to be doing something, etc.
My dad is a bit of a perfectionist and my mom I'm pretty sure has ADD, so perhaps just for me an odd combo.

Jessica

For me, it was my dad that has ADD, and my mom who was the perfectionist.

I know what you mean, though. And I can't maintain that level of gettin'stuffdone for very long, either. I couldn't do anythign 'right' at home, ie- the dishes were always in the wrong place. No matter how many of the details got right, there was always 1 wrong one.



I do avoid writing tasks until I'm sure I can finish them. SO now that I have kids, and time is at a premium, I have had to change my work habits. I now do a 'freethinking' outline on the document, and save it. That way, when I can st down, I have a place to start.

[smeisnotapirate]

Originally Posted by heidirk

For me, it was my dad that has ADD, and my mom who was the perfectionist.

I know what you mean, though. And I can't maintain that level of gettin'stuffdone for very long, either. I couldn't do anythign 'right' at home, ie- the dishes were always in the wrong place. No matter how many of the details got right, there was always 1 wrong one.

Ditto.

My mom owns 5 things of her own that have sentimental value. All 5 are on her dresser - every other horizontal space in the house is empty. She is the definition of efficient.

In high school, you walked into my room and it was like a kitch bomb went off. I had mementos from everything, posters and magazine clippings all over the walls, little dohickeys that my friends and I had made together - but it was neat, organized, and never dusty.

Mom used to go totally nuts. Every 6 months or so, she'd go ballistic and when I wasn't home, she'd take a trash bag and clear away EVERYTHING on every surface in my room. Of course, I'd come home and start freaking out because all my mementos are gone (I have a terrible memory, so mementos help trigger my memories) and my mother would play the silent game.

Yeah, SUPER-dysfunctional childhood. A minimalist gives birth to the tchotchke-lover. How ironic.

[heidirk]

good gracious Sara!

My mother was afraid to come into my room. And afraid to throw away anything herself. so I at least escaped that.
How's this for irony?- My DAD is the one who throws stuff out on my MOM!!!! Somehow, Karma has been restored! (ergh, but I don't believe in karma, so. . . nm)



well, back to class. . . :

[smeisnotapirate]

Originally Posted by heidirk

good gracious Sara!

It's become laughable now. When my mom was over, I could see her eyeing the figurines and pictures and *gasp* stuff in our house and trying to not freak out. You ever seen a scared horse? You know, when they roll their eyes around? That's what she looked like, and it made me smile.

Is that bad?

Originally Posted by heidirk

well, back to class. . . :

Oh, so THAT'S why you're always up so late.........

[heidirk]

yup that's why I'm up!


I go on MDC, and GCM for a break!

[heidirk]

tired, tired, tired!


trying to get my brain working so I can post two meaningfull notes to my class, and then collapse into bed.

[smeisnotapirate]

Originally Posted by heidirk

tired, tired, tired!


trying to get my brain working so I can post two meaningfull notes to my class, and then collapse into bed.

............meanwhile, I have insomnia!

[heidirk]

weel, I have not been sleeping well. I haven;'t taken my valerian, r magnesium the last few nghts running, and I'm beginnng to develop serious brain fog.

I hope you can sleep! : there, there are some sleepy vibes!


I think I'm gonna try to get some shut eye, myself now.

[heidirk]

Hi! I'm up.....


making a lst of what I can and cannot control....



anyone else?

[pookel]

Can control: When I go to bed at night, how much I eat, when I take showers.

Cannot control: ..... everything else?

[heidirk]

pookel- those are on my cannot control list! :


can control- my attitude, my response to my kids, hhhmmmmmm

[Maggirayne]

Originally Posted by pookel

I had this revelation about ADD I keep meaning to post here and I never feel like I have the time or organization skills to put together the whole thing. Irony! :

Anyway. I've made a point of trying to do something in the kitchen any time I'm waiting for something, even if I'm just microwaving something for a minute. You can get a lot done in a single minute. It's amazing. Like, stacking all the dirty dishes neatly in one corner of the counter, throwing all the trash away, and putting the cans in the recycling container. Voila, counter is halfway to clean, before the microwave even beeps.

You're too funny--what kind of intro do you think we did?
My dad and mom are both packrats, and my dad is a lot like me.

I wanna know, how does *anyone* with more than one kid get *anything* done? I'm either :yawning: or :!