Reply To: High IQ and you can't market or sell a product or youself

[Evelyn]

@Filmbuff1984

Wow did you hit a hot topic.

I so fully understand where you are coming from. I was running my own magazine, but it never really had a chance. I got all the brakes, support, and advertisers for the first issue… with my sister’s help! She had to go home, back to Saginaw.  She was my ad sales staff.

I couldn’t even give away the copies I had printed, they sat in my back yard as I scrambled trying to make myself sell ad space, line up interviews, and build the second issue. Everything fell flat. I kept at it though. I beat that dead horse until I threw the last bundle in the trash with the realization that I was no good at sales, or distribution.

I have friends begging me to get the magazine going again, but I know better. I know I don’t have the resources to sell or distribute it. Even if I did now, I was so devastated by that failure, It would take promises signed in blood that I would get the help I need… no it will take more than that.

I guess what I really want to say is I know how you feel in some small way, even if I don’t know your full situation. But with understanding your strengths and learning about how your ADD presents in your life will start to give you new paths and tools to either work around, or work with your weaknesses. Eventually you will start putting together your own strategies that work for you. It’s all confusing and overwhelming, but the moments of clarity, and purpose start stringing together and before you know it you have a time frame to work with 15 minutes, 20… 30… sometimes I get 45 minutes before I have to take a brake.

I have a strategy of 30:10, 30 minutes of labor, 10 minute brake. It doesn’t work in every situation but in the tasks where I can get wrapped in details and hyper-focus it works very well. Of course I have to remember to start my timer… the oven timer is my buddy, at least I can’t lose it. It has an obnoxious beep that sounds off every 15 seconds till you get up and physically push the button. I can hyper-focus through about 2 or 3 minutes but it wears me down and pulls me out of it, heck, the “other half” of the battle is standing up which you can’t help but do just to shut the blasted thing off.

I start with the 10 minute brake. when the timer goes off I set it for 30 minutes and start my task. Sorting tools, sorting papers, and painting the walls, dreadful jobs, that are less of a problem when I use the timer.

For dishes and other tasks of short duration I use 5 and 10 minute intervals. In those situations I’m always bringing myself “back to the task” I tend to wander away about every 2 or 3 minutes. So I need a tighter reign on myself.

With writing and draw programs on the computer I use the 30:10, but internet the 5:10 or 10:10 it works sometimes it’s getting better.

I don’t know if any of this will help you, but maybe you can find your own time ratio.

I have a very long list of skills, I had to write them all out in one document (multiple pages) with all their pertinent info, dates, and descriptions; I did the same for schools, and references. I have a big folder of personal information that I take with me when I’m looking for a job, or have to fill out paperwork. I’d be so lost without it. I have the standard resumes too, but they always want you to fill out an application with the most relevant info to the job you are applying for.

It also helps if you start making out a list of the things that occupy your time, good or not so good, take some weeks to do this one the broader the range the better. Patterns will start to come to the surface, at first you may see negative ones, just keep going, other patterns will start to form too. Be loose with it, details are ok, but set your timer so you don’t hyper-focus on them.

Okay, that’s it for now. I have a hyper-focus date with my pillow.

Sign-are-ya

Evelyn

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