ADD a Little Color to Your Life

I was terrible in school when I was younger.  I never paid attention, didn't care to learn unless it was fun and engaging.  I hated math until in 9th grade my teacher made me love it.  I found out when I was about 24 that I had Attention Deficit Disorder.

Oh my gosh, 24 years of thinking I was a total screw up, just washed away, there was actual something I could do to fix those things I was doing wrong.  I tried medication, that sucked. Oh yeah, I was more focused, got more done, but it also takes the zest out of life.  I weaned myself off of it and by wean I mean stopped cold turkey and decided I was going to learn to deal with my ADD by alternative measures.  What may those alternative measures be you might ask....well they work for me, but they may not work for everyone......but here are some well known and not so well known ways to work with your ADD symptoms.

BITE YOUR TONGUE, you are in a conversation and people are talking, you want to interrupt because you just thought of something, DON'T.  It is rude and offensive, because your brain goes a mile a minute you will likely forget it, but don't worry.  It is better than offending the person you are in the conversation with.

BREAK TASKS INTO SMALL PARTS.  Big things are overwhelming to our mind, break them up into small parts and tackle them that way.  If you have 50 homework problems, break them up into 5 then 5 then 5...etc, give yourself a short break in between sets of 5 to reset and then go again. 

TIMERS, are your best friend.  Any clock will do, but a timer is better you can see it ticking down.  When you cut your tasks into small parts, estimate how long each one will take and then do them in that amount of time.  For instance, I estimate to wash my breakfast dishes it will take me 4 minutes.  I look at the clock frequently and race to get it done.  Washing my breakfast dishes is just one of the many tasks I have to do to get myself out the door in the morning.

LISTS, are your other best friend.  Make them, it helps organize everything that is in your head and keeps you from being overwhelmed, because when it is written down you can refer back to it.  You also won't forget it. 

MUSIC,   If you have a task that seems arduous, like homework or cleaning, put those beats on and get moving, it helps you focus, keeps you on pace, and puts you in a better mood.

A DESK.  Any small task can seem overwhelming to the person with ADD, you must have a clean place to sit and do your paperwork, homework, etc.  KEEP IT CLEAN!  Don't let it get cluttered with stuff; that is your place to go and do the task that needs doing.  If you let it get cluttered it will be overwhelming and that is one more road block between you and getting your work done.

COLORS.  This is my favorite because I recently discovered it....I have a set of Stabilo 88 point pens.  I love them, they are from Germany.  They have 25 different colors.  I hate doing my Physics homework.  I use my pens.  When I get bored or antsy, as we folks with ADD tend to get, I switch colors, it keeps me moving.

This is not every little thing you can do if you have ADD, but I find them helpful!