Let good technology do the work

[devadmin]

I have discovered that my cell phone picks up my voice even if I talk quite softly. My wife was constantly asking me to leave the room when I was one the phone cause I’d be shouting, like I had to help the phone out by yelling since the other person was 200 miles away. D’oh!

I think I also talk loudly because I’m in noisy offices or outdoors and I feel like I have to be speaking loud enough for someone who’s five feet away to hear. But the phone I have, is amazing. I can talk quite softly and let good technology do the work!

REPORT ABUSE

[Mike]

The other thing is finding the right people. Maybe this is a separate topic, but in the documentary ADD and Loving It? they showed Richard Branson, the guy behind Virgin Airlines and Virgin phones and so on and I’ve heard him speak in person. He’s amazing. He makes it quite clear there are areas of business, like the numbers and finances, that are totally beyond him and he’ll mess it up. When I heard a multi-millionaire admit he’s terrible with numbers and can’t read easily, it blew my mind. But then I think of say, the Beatles. None of them knew anything about finances, or accounting or whatever. They had people around them who knew that stuff. The trick is finding people you can trust. How do you do that? I think ADDers can have real problems trusting. But I also know from my own life, sometimes I’ve trusted way too much.

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

Sometimes it feels that when you delegate you end up having to do the job yourself because the person you delegate to can never do it as well as you so why bother! Hold on……….it make take them twice as long but they cost four times less than your hourly rate.

REPORT ABUSE

[Dr.Laura]

For me, it’s the smart phone, and other devices that help me manage time & tasks (sort of). All my patients get accustomed to the little tweets and buzzes that signal, “Five minutes left, so wrap it up!” towards the end of their therapy sessions. Perhaps it’s even helpful (at least I hope/wish/pray it is) for an ADHDer to walk into a psychologist’s office and see a bunch of tools to aid a blinky working memory and inconsistent sense of time. It’s Show and Tell…

Now, what I could really use is a program that kicks me off the computer at a pre-determined time!

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

Dr. J your last statement hit it on the head for me. I ama photographer and many times I have an issue focusing on the retouching the work. Hiring my retouchers from NYC cost me a ton of cash but they actually get it done, where as if I do it , it may never get done.

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

Dr.Laura,

Not sure if this is actualy helpfull or not, but there are programs that you can set to lock up a computer after X amount of usage or time a not totaly exact but similair example would be

http://www.vicman.net/getfree/ComputershutdownSoftware.html

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

I’ve seen a program similar to that specific to ADDers. It meshes with Windows & uses humour to help nudge you off the computer. In fact, you can even customize the messages in the pop up windows — eg. “Time to shut down now… time for bed… come on… only 60 more seconds… GO TO BED!!”. I think it was in the gadgets section of additudemag.com, or at the virtual adhd conference site adhdconference.com. What a hoot — now, if only you could add a voice to it!

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

HAving trouble managing my money where can I find a person to take of it? Someone I can trust…a financial counsellor, an accountant?

REPORT ABUSE

[Rick Green – Founder of TotallyADD]

River, I’d say start with the yellow pages, and look under bookkeepers. You could also talk to someone at your bank if it’s a big enough sum. The other source is to talk to someone you know who has their finances handled, and ask them who they use and who they trust.

There’s a ton of financial systems and software out there, lots of them quite good.

The question is always, like all the kinds of diets out there and exercise programs, can you stick to them? You want to pick one system and then stick with it. Ah, there’s the rub. But like so many strategies for ADHD sometimes part of it is simply building the routine and making it easy and accessible.

Like if you have a system that requires you to write out all your expenses at the end of the day, then put the ledger book where you write the numbers on top of your pajamas, or your pillow. Maybe put a big post it over your bed to remind you. (At least for the first few weeks, until it becomes a habit.)

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

Rick..thank you…I tried many things…many binders, some software..It work for sometimes…but I forgot about tthem…it’s soooo boring!

I really think that I go seek for someone about that..(accountant) .since I just lost my driving licence because I did’nt pay on time…my ticket for a red light I did’nt see…..dah! )

At the beginning the ticket was 54$….I’m about 350$ with fees, interests…so I can INVEST on an accountant I guess…

Ciao! )))

REPORT ABUSE

[Dr.Laura]

Returning to the topic of tools to help us manage computer use (thanks Belien & ErinF), here’s a fresh post from Trevor Dobrygoski at MakeTechEasier.com on extensions for Chrome & Firefox which allow you to regulate the time you spend on those trance-inducing sites: http://maketecheasier.com/10-google-chrome-extensions-to-stay-focus-and-efficent/2010/05/02

Plus, Dr. Ari Tuckman (a truly generous psychologist specializing in ADHD in adults) addressed this issue in a couple of podcasts on the site for his superb book “More Attention, Less Deficit” http://www.adultadhdbook.com. The titles of the podcasts say it all, “The Right Tool for the Job: Using Technology for Good, Not Evil” and “Two Tools to Stop the Flood”. Amen.

FYI, those podcasts are a handy and painless way to get coaching in tasty bites. I subscribe via my Droid, but any podcatcher, either on your computer (yahoo account, igoogle, etc.) or smartphone/iPhone can do the job. Or an use RSS feed, whatever. And, yes, there is a certain irony to using technology to learn how not to get lost in technology, but that’s just our world – welcome to it!

Think I’ll go home now to see my husb/kids & walk the dogs. From the digital world to the physical…

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

The power went off at my office over the weekend.

So now I have to re-set FIVE devices with clocks that I’ve brought in here to remind me of various things.

Two were very easy to do.

The others are newer, have more buttons, it’s harder to read the fine print on them and remember which button does what. The fax machine has a complicated list of menus.

I CAN’T BRING MYSELF TO DO THIS!

I’d rather go on the internet and type up a rant like this, than spend a couple minutes tinkering with a clock.

Of course, if I had remembered to replace the back-up batteries I wouldn’t be going through this right now.

REPORT ABUSE

[Author]

Posts