In our continuing series on what it’s like to have ADD comes this little gem, not second hand, not from reading, or talking to people with ADD but from me, this afternoon. E
For the last 2 hours I’ve been dying of thirst. I keep saying, “Ok, get up and get some water,” but with each mouse click and keyboard stroke there appears one more thing. Just one more little thing, and then I’ll go.
Of course, my most pressing project has been behind all of the other Windows on my computer screen since I booted up this morning. I’ve gotten plenty of interesting (read new, and not due today) projects done since lunch time. I’ve re-ordered the Netflix queue, ordered decorations for the baby’s room, bought a new pre-paid plan on Shutterfly, and emailed a dozen people about maybe refinancing our mortgage or second mortgage just to see if we can save some money.
Oh, and I’ve updated Facebook about 20 times.
Back to the drink.
So, I finally stood up, mostly because the urge to drink something had been joined by an overwhelming urge to also visit the bathroom. I have no idea how long my leg has been bouncing autonomously like that.
And what should my eyes notice, just 12 inches away from my main desk surface sitting atop the “L” on the way to the door (next to my day planner by the way)? An unopened Coke that I had retrieved the last time I was thirsty (and the phone rang).
ADD/ADHD – It’s not just distraction, it’s not noticing. (That’s my new slogan. I’m working on the jingle…instead of going to the restroom….)
*************** Not bad. Just 4 minutes to find clip-art instead of my ADHD distracted by clip art!
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This is the only place I could find to comment.
I would like you to know how I got to your site… and that while reading your posts-okay, let’s be honest, skimming through is a better terminology-I hollered to my husband, “It’s like he’s speaking to my soul!”
I entered your site tonight because my days are filled with dozens of immediate tasks that keep me from completing the boring, tedious, large and important tasks. So by the evening the pile of of windows on my laptop dwindles (such a nice feeling) until I can finally see the long-forgotten and ominous looking tab at the bottom of the screen.
I say to myself, “Can’t quit now! Have to finish!”
Thinking it will only “take a minute”, I begin tackling the impossible, determined finish-and cook dinner and shower etc.-before my husband walks through the door. This inevitably morphs into before he eats dinner, before he finishes studying, before he goes to bed… and even sometimes before he gets up!
We both are at our wits end. We are newly married and settling in a new city. After hitting a wall two days ago, I recalled tools that helped me function with day to day tasks (such as scheduling).
I explained that in the move I lost my wall calendar, BOTH my timers, and my graph paper notebook that I use for keeping track of my hours, making checklists, and organizing To-Do tasks.
My husband is patient and understands the drill because some members of his family have ADD/ADHD.
My new goal was to get my “toolbox” back in order: GIANT calendar and an egg timer. (BTW-I purchased a new notebook and two weeks later found the old one).
I made it to one store 15min. before it closed and found a medium sized calendar, but no timer. I bought the calendar anyway and went to another store with later hours.
Jackpot does not even come close to the deal I made at that store… biggest white space calendar there, on clearance too. Once the #1 was checked off my mental list I meandered around until I remembered my #2, the timer. Picked up the timer and wandered up to the checkout, collecting #’s 3 through 10 that I thought of along the way.
No, I had not brought not bring a cart.
And yes, I dropped stuff in front of people. I was very happy to carry shopping bags when I left.
I drove home, stopping to reward my victory with an ice cold sweet tea. I walked up the two flights to my apartment and dumped my treasure on the couch. A few minutes later I went to get my tea I forgot in the car.
I dug through the bags and displayed all of my purchases to my husband. And then realized I had also left the calendar in the car. He offered to get it and returned with the medium sized calendar from the first store. Wrong one.
I told him it was probably in the backseat. He came back empty handed. That is when I remembered.
I had set the calendar on the ground, resting against the side of my car so I could unlock the car and put the bags inside.
Once it was out of my hands I forgot about it-sort of… I mean I was thinking the whole time about it and where it would go and what colors I would use to write on it, but by that time I was already pulling out of the parking lot.
So you see, when I realized what had happened I began Googling “organizing calendars for ADD/ADHD”.
Thank you for this site. I cannot wait for your calendar to come out. Good luck with it!
I have laughed over many of your entries and shared them with my husband (who is now in bed because it has taken more than “just a minute” to write this comment).
No matter, tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes!
Off to bed 🙂
T.H.,
Thank you for your comment. It’s always nice to know that someone appreciates what I do here. Sorry it took me so long to go through and approve comments. The comment spammers seem to really like this website even though I never approve their stuff and take their links off when I do 🙂