The Disorganized Mind - Part 2
I have to say one thing about this book, it’s not intended to be a fast read. It’s a read that if done right will have you with your notebook or laptop or mobile device sitting there taking notes. Reflecting on the things that are asked.
The point up to now in the book has been - think about your base. Where are you at and where do you want to be. It is ideal for people who can read, internalize, and implement. I have re-read chapter 3 at least 4 times now. Each time I do I come away with more and more. It’s the questions that are asking you the hard questions. Especially if you have ADD/ADHD.
The first time through I read it and started to think about them. The next time through I read them and typed them into my electronic journal. The third time through I put them into my notebook. The last time through I reviewed my notebook and compared to my e-journal and now am re-answering them. They say a “Genius” has to see something 5 times before he internalizes something so maybe there’s at least 4 or 5 more times I’ll need to review them.
Check back in a day or so and I’ll have the answers here - (no questions though - that would be giving it away).
The thing that I would point out here to everyone who is thinking about this book or picked it up and put it down because the truth of the answers were too hard to face up to, this is what life is about. ADDers or non-ADD alike have to come to this base. It may seem that some people might have their “act together” but what we see and what we don’t see are miles apart. Just because you feel you need to initiate change in your life is not a solitary experience. EVERYONE regardless of ADD, nearsightedness, balding, lactose intolerant, or anything other physical difference, goes ponders this and wonders how to implement this. How many people do you know have read 7 Habits of Highly Effective People but don’t follow the guidlines? For the millions of people that have bought that book we’d be a completely different world if they were all living this way.
I tried many times to adopt Covey’s cycle into my life, but as an adult with undiagnosed ADD I was constantly shooting myself in the foot. It’s nearly impossible to adopt it for those of us who on a whim change our minds, impulsively commit to events, or will inadvertently take on too much so we don’t have to face the hard reality of planning and preparation. Especially when doing it by the seat of our pants in crunch time is so much more stimulating.
Living to our values, our core principles is the heart of living a balanced life. So when your co-workers ask you to “help” them do something that you would like to do so you can be seen as the go-to person at work(gratification boost to brain) your core values will kick in and help to determine what is the right choice based on your principles. And that is much more fulfilling than being stuck at work for 2 more hours because you think that at the end of the day it will matter more that you did this when you didn’t really need to.
The Disorganized Mind is about creating the process and structure in our lives to be in a position to make those decisions and understand the repercussions. I would say this again, change is hard. Really hard if you don’t want to do it. BUT with the right amount of structure and learned self control, the ADDer can literally do anything.
Blogging Tip #1 For The A.D.D.er
Table of contents for ADD Blogging Tips
- Blogging Tip #1 For The A.D.D.er
These tips can apply to anyone. I got the idea while reading Dr. Hallowell’s blog when he talked about getting the hang of blogging.
Some people may already know this, but for those that don’t here you go. Blogging is about writing. It’s writing when the idea hits you. It’s writing about what you know about. Even fiction is about something we have some idea about. But writing consistently every week can be difficult. I fall behind all the time.
I have 4 blogs I participate on and 2 that are just mine. This is one of them. Not to mention forums, email, etc. So how do you write consistently when you are writing so much already?
Strike while the iron is hot. By that I mean when an idead hits you. When you see something or realize something write.
You don’t have to write on your blog just then, but you should write down either the whole artical or just enough that when you come back you’ll see it. I like to use google notepad to quickly get my thoughts down. A great application for offline and online writing is ecto. It lets you write online or offline. It’s available in PC and Mac.
Let’s say you’ve just written an entire post but you don’t want to post it until later that week because you just posted. It’s a simple change to your post. Here are the steps for a wordpress blog, but it should be available for all blogs.
1. Create your post.
2. Save your post as draft.
3. Open the post up for editing.
4. In the right hand side is “Post Timestap.
5. Expand this and set it at a future date.
6. Publish.
This will then publish the posting to your blog on that particualr day.
Now you can write away without the headache of waiting or storing your idea until the next time you’re available. So strike while the iron is hot. Next week we’ll talk about another tip. Figuring out how to keep track of what you’re writing.
ps I wrote this Sunday morning.
A Non Plugged In Day
I have a tendency to be plugged in. It allows me to hyperfocus, be distracted, and feel like I accomplished something all at once. Being a father and husband can be frustrating because you aren’t moving at your speed but at the speed of others. So as an escape I plug in. My wife, being the patient person she is, reminds me of this regularly.
Today I was not plugged in. Today I was hyperfocused on cleaning and reorganizing my basement and parts of my upstairs. I accomplished most of this. The basement and part of the kitchen has been redone to better use the space. Foods we don’t eat everyday or even every week were taken down to new shelves my nephews and I put up.
Furniture was moved around and appliances were identified that we could do without. I even put a phone on ebay for sale. Our trash day this week is going to be a nightmare. At least 6 trips up to the curb from the basement.
Now it’s the end of the day and we have accomplished much. But there is still much to do to finish. That’s the hard part. Stopping.