Re: Examples of inattentativeness

[Anonymous]

I’m just getting diagnosed now at 37. I’ve always known something was different about me because of the things I do to cope that other people don’t. Here’s a couple that may help others:

– I always set the stove timer no matter what I’m cooking, and, because that timer buzzer is only good if you’re within ear shot, I also set a watch timer in case I wander outside or something. If I fail to do this even once, the smoke alarms will be buzzing instead, guaranteed.

– I have a checklist I go through before I go anywhere, all hard “k” sounds, lol. Cash, Cards, Keys, Computers (smartphone), Cables, eleCtrolytes, (water, but spent half an hour once thinking of the K for that), etc. I used to think that because other people don’t have to do this that I should test myself once in a while, but sure enough, EVERY time I don’t use this checklist I wind up sitting down in a cafe or Burger King after a nice long hour walk, pull out my laptop, fire it up, and whammo. No internet because I forgot a cable or something.

– If you think of something you need to do but are worried you’ll forget it before you can capture the idea, put a physical object in your way. I threw a pizza box on the toilet seat once so I would remember to not sit down before refilling the toilet paper. Need to remember to return a video? If you always go to the bathroom before you go out, put them in the bathroom sink! This works only if you have one bathroom. I usually just throw videos on the floor by my shoes, but that only works if you don’t crush them.

– Get paper bills and statements ONLY, or set up pre-auth payments only. I still get all paper bills and will rip a little piece of it so I know I paid it. Works like a “PAID ON DATE:” stamp in an office. After I read mail I’m keeping I rip it in half so I don’t keep looking at it before it makes it to recycling.

Those are a couple that work me!

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