A personal manager to keep me focused

[Anonymous]

Am trying this out: my husband is now my manager and I’m his. We both probably have ADHD (he self-diagnosed and his doc prescribed him meds, my doc wants me to have a psych assessment first, which is happening this week).

I have real problems with prioritizing and following my umpteen lists and schedules when I am really busy with work (I’m a self-employed work-at-home entrepeneur) and sometimes feel like a moth buzzing against a light, or one of those wind-up toys that keeps crashing into the wall, falling over, getting back up and repeating the same damn thing. Right now I feel I’m at a breaking point, I’m so stressed out busy but can’t stop. I’m overloaded with business and can’t seem to get ahead. My desk is a sprawling dumpsite of paperwork, all important so it can’t be filed away, or at least I perceive it that way (yes, I’ve read and tried to implement David Allen’s book, to no avail).

I also procrastinate until it gets to be an emergency – I think I enjoy the rush of doing things at the last minute (I guess it helps keep me focused).

The plan is to keep me focused on 8 hours of work Monday through Friday instead of 4 hours a day spread throughout the whole day and evening and spilling into the weekends, so that we can have some time together. I spend a lot of time on the computer (it’s a kind of self-medication). I’m also very forgetful and tired a lot of the time.

Has anyone else tried this – a family member or someone who knows you have ADHD issues and who will work with you in this way? I’ve heard of ADHD coaches, how do they handle this?

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

My ADHD Coach helps me to set goals. We focus each week on what got in the way and what I can do to move forward. I’ve learned to break my day into chunks instead of one big picture. Is it perfect…no but it’s made a huge difference in my life. I goggled ADHD Coaches and came up with my coach. Coaching is done on the phone, by Skype or in person. If I’m running late which I often do, I can just call my coach. She never judges me and has made me feel better about myself. I’m learning to use my time more effectively.

http://www.omgadhd.com is my adhd coaches website

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

I can’t afford a coach. But I’m happy to report that life is much better these days, I’ve moved my business out of my home so I have a better separation between the two, I get home at dinnertime and actually have time to relax or do other stuff at night, and we are doing a bit of decluttering on the weekends and starting to see some progress. I actually discovered two chairs this week under a lot of clutter. They aren’t completely decluttered, but it’s big progress for me.

When I start to feel frazzled and am not sure what to focus on, what’s the priority, I still ask my husband, and he keeps me in line. Of course, i get to do that for him too.

Meds and a willingness to mess up my usual habitual patterns is what’s helping, as well as taking a leap to move the business forward. Couldn’t have done it without recognizing that ADD is part of my picture.

REPORT ABUSE

[Author]

Posts