The Disorganized Mind - A First Take
I recently saw an advertisement for a new book out by super Coach Nancy Ratey. I have often thought about coaching to help me get some balance back in my life, so this was something that just jumped out at me. Here’s the wife of John Ratey, co-author of some of my favorite books on ADD/ADHD, and the one of the pioneers in coaching for ADD putting out a book that seems to be calling out to me.
This weekend at one of the book stores I found a copy and immediately snatched it up. I love books like this and if her writing style was anything like her husband’s then at least it would be an enjoyable read. Other books like this that just didn’t get going for me was Getting Things Done. While many people swear by this system, it does not fit everyone and I found it hard to implement.
I brought it home and started reading through it. I’m through the first 3 chapters and can hardly wait for the next one. The sections within the chapters are short, concise, and written well. It’s been enjoyable.
The things that I find consistent with what I long thought was key for me at least and I suspect others, was structure, goals, and follow up. My greatest successes have been when I created a structured environment, set goals that I actively measured against, and followed through on when and where I failed.
Nancy points this out and talks about how the role of the coach brings this out but more importantly holds the individuals accountable for their decisions by helping them realize how they made choices inconsistent with their goals. I don’t necessarily have this challenge since I’m far more demanding of myself than others can be.
So as to not give it all away I’ll save more of the details for later, but for right now - this is a winner. Enjoyable to read and I feel like just reading it has aroused that part of my brain that I need to get kick started to get back on track.
And most important? She’s a BUCKEYE and will be here June 7th for a book signing. Yahoo!
Managing My Day The ADD Way
A lot of people talk about managing their day. New articles, research, classes, discussions, etc. It can be difficult because life is not about managing anything - life happens and we react. But if we have a routine and a process, they can save us from letting everything around us taking advantage of our natural desire to let them.
When I found out that I had AD/HD I was at a loss for understanding how I was going to leverage this for my betterment but keep it controlled so I wasn’t lost anymore. With a lot of research, several changes to my routines, creation of new routines, and some medication I found success. It’s nothing complicated, but it makes all the difference in the world.
The first thing I did was identify what I had to do every day. I used this to create a routine. Like a daily check list. Now I don’t follow this check list to the letter, but it’s a guide, and more and more it’s becoming the pattern. What does it do? It frees me up from thinking about what I have to do and I just walk the process so I can think about other things. Like Einstein and his wardrobe. He would wear almost the same outfit(different clothes but the same pieces) so his brain could focus on e=MC2 and not what he had to put on that day.
The next thing I do is follow the same routine when I walk in the office. I put my keys, money, phone, etc in the same place. Come time to go home and I have everything in one place. I don’t have to ask myself did I forget something.
During the work day I manage many projects simultaneously. While I have project plans to follow that generate tasks to accomplish, they don’t provide the list tracking mechanism I need to stay on track. For that I use Remember The Milk. It creates tasks that can send reminders to your email or phone. It uses tags, tabbing, priorities, and integrates with many different free services. As people come to me with issues before I track it in the project I use RTM to manage the information. This way I spend more time thinking and less time worrying about what I’m forgetting.
I make myself take breaks to snack and connect with people. Before I started taking medication I couldn’t sit still for longer than 15 minutes. It was excruciating to sit there and do the mundane. Now between my tasks and my medicine, I’m the energizer bunny. Funny enough it’s not from the amphetamines, but it’s from being able to focus and multitask so much better now that my old get up and down energy is driving through the projects. So getting up gives me 3 opportunities. Change of scenery, food or beverage, and a chance to connect with people, even if briefly. — As a side not to this - before the diagnosis it would have been said of me that I over socialized at work, though it didn’t hurt my performance in comparison to the “standard”.
Another thing I do is if I feel I’m racing, I sit down and take deep breaths and walk myself through calming down. It’s natural to seek out drama when you have AD/HD. This keeps me in check. Especially if I’ve forgotten to eat or get up for a while little things can set me off where they turn into a big thing when they don’t need to. I still haven’t figured out why little things push me to big drama but they do. Maybe they did all along but wasn’t aware of it before. Now I know.
The last thing I try to do is disconnect from work before I walk in the door. It’s not always easy but it helps me to play with the kids and enjoy my family so much more. I disconnect by thinking about dropping off my son that morning and the last words he says. “I love you Dad.” That usually does it.
AD/HD or ADD is manageable. Use your creativity and think outside the box. Finding your own niche or mechanism is important. If you’re not sure, send me a note or make a comment and I’d be glad to offer any help I can.
Stepping Up With A.D.D.
There are times when I curse my brain. When an hour slips by unnoticed. When I have failed to show up on time for the 10th time in a row. The list is exhaustive.
This weekend was not one of those times. There were major things going on this weekend at work and in light of no one else stepping up, I did. I ran issues, coordinated 4-6 different teams all simultaneously. Normal people? No way they could do it. That’s why they let me run it. It was a great feeling. I don’t know if anyone up the chain noticed, but I know my peers did and that’s good enough.
Thank you A.D.D. We came, we saw, and we kicked butt.