Reply To: I don't think the "typical" ADHD jobs are for me…

[Alan Brown]

I LOVE this classic tale, @blackdog. It’s so classic it’s almost not funny. Luckily we tend to see the humor in this craziness. On a semi-serious note, here’s my trick for staying on-task:

The way to get ENGAGED in an important task is to determine forcefully that THIS IS WHAT I’M DOING NOW. The way to keep from getting pulled AWAY from that thing is to guard your mind’s open window – with a labeling gun for things that are “NOT WHAT I’M DOING NOW”.

Example: I’ve sat down to write an important letter that I’ve been putting off, because it requires lots of thought. A few minutes in, I remember that I meant to trim my soul-patch (the little button under my lower lip), and it’s appealing because that would be so much easier than writing. Writing is hard. AND TRIMMING MY SOUL-PATCH is a nice diversion — BUT UNLESS IT’S GETTING IN MY WAY OF EATING, IT IS BULL-oney. And it’s not what I’m doing now. Right now I’m writing this letter.

THEN, Halfway through I get a text from a colleague from whom I’m expecting an update. “Now THAT’s important,” I think, but texting with a colleague is NOT WHAT I’M DOING NOW. What I’m doing now is writing a letter. So I jot down on a STICKIE that I’ll return his text and get back to work — BECAUSE IT’S IMPORTANT, JUST NOT WHAT I’M DOING NOW.

“Multitasking is for suckers”, someone wise once said. If you can identify the task you’re doing now and do it, believe it or not, you can stay on it. The trick is LABELING.

You could easily substitute your original task and the diversions into the above. I hope it’s helpful!!

 

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