Lifestyle changes I have made inspired by this site

[Anonymous]

This site has been so helpful to me. I wandered by here just be random googling as I was consulting the all-mighty internet about whether my workplace, time management, and organization woes were actually ADD and not just me misinterpreting the DSM.

Time management at work (spending 11 hours to complete 6 hour days) is what began my journey. However, there are also tons of other ways my chaos frustrates me on a daily basis.

-I got a smart phone and having been using it’s capabilities to use the calendar, sticky note to-do app, and make grocery lists. (we won’t talk about all the hours I lost playing with it…….*whistles*.) It really takes a lot of mental energy to enter these things immediately versus the… ‘i’ll write it later…oh i’ll remember’. I have made three successful trips to the grocery store without walking up and down every aisle and aimlessly wandering and buying way more than I need.

-I got a special organizer for mail. the priority bill slot, the less priority but must be done slot, then the random as I feel like it slot. It sat around on my washing machine for a week +, but it has been really helpful. It takes some will power to actually put mail into it versus throwing it down on the washing machine, kitchen counter, ie..wherever I happen to walk with a place to put something down.

-i got another one of those organizers for work. which is a big improvement from my desk drawer which was just filled with loose papers. it still needs work, but big improvement. It is still sooooooo tempting to throw those loose papers around.. now my challenge is to figure out what to get rid of.

-i bought a big box of colored highlighters! I use it at work for my agenda. very helpful as I was having a lot of trouble deciphering chicken scratch written all over a page. again, more mental effort because it takes effort to remember to use the highlighter when I am writing something down. They are a huge kid pleaser which has been an unexpected benefit to keep kids occupied and happy while I talk to mom or dad.

The meds are not organizing me (sadly actually…all the mental effort is draining!), but rather making my mind more capable of putting in the sustained effort at organizing myself. Just like in one of the totallyadd videos! although that one was boring and I skipped most of it. lol. I have tried to do these various things for years, but now I think I may actually be successful! so much effort though…>_< lol

__________________________________________________

further goals

_________________________________

-i bought a box of file folders to label or organize all my loose papers which are in random unmarked folders…ok folks.. I still haven’t touched this project, but I will..really….

-i still haven’t bought a timer for the bathroom or clock for the shower so I am still having spacing out problems there and wasting time. the meds have been cutting this down somewhat, but the rest is breaking my bad habits

-I still have yet to clean anything in my house.. this is my most daunting task (except for the whole work issue which started this train of course). I just can’t make myself do it!!!! I don’t know how this is going to get done. I have to wear shoes at all time in my house. there are dust bunnies.. clutter on the floor.. petrified dead bugs on the floor.. . pretty nasty except I am good about not leaving food around. This sounds a bit worse than it is because (after a not-so-fun breakup), I live by myself in a two bedroom house so room is not an issue. I am so overwhelmed by it that I have been toying with the idea of paying someone else to clean this because it is just ridiculous at this point and I’m not sure a whole bottle of vyvance could force me to do it!!!!!

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

those are good ideas. i color code everything i can- highlighters, colored post-its, colored pens, colored labels on my outlook calendar, colored note cards for different things i need to do, etc. it helps me decipher quickly what i need to focus on . i have some basic color schemes that i have used for years (ie blue is education/nursing work, RED is taxes/finances/MUST see/do stuff, yellow is household stuff, green is DOG stuff . . . ) they are very basic and sometimes mean something else- but it does help me quite a bit. (except for when it doesn’t.) (!!) my house is also DAUNTING. i am very appreciative of my husband who maintains basic daily household maintenance and cleaning (and laundry and yardwork), although MUCH of the disorder and chaos (that he won’t- or shouldn’t have to- touch) continues to grow and pile up. i’ve often thought of hiring someone, but that pushes alot of buttons for me (“i should be able to do this” “i would be horrified to have someone else see this” ETC) i am sooooo looking forward to my i-phone!!! ’cause i just KNOW it’s going to revolutionize the way i do my life . . . (smile)

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

ps sugargremlin: are you going to the apna conference in anaheim??

REPORT ABUSE

[nellie]

Sugargremlin,

Your cleaning issue sounds a lot like my basement issue My psych ( I finally had too listen to her since I was paying her a fortune!) suggested making it a “project” and breaking it into steps. I chose a section of the storage Items I had taken out to sort and never put back and went for it. Believe it or not it worked. I first listed all the steps ( on paper) and estimated how long each would take. Then added 30% for error. The total turned out to be like 10 hours of something. Then I chose 2 hour increments and slotted those into my calendar on days where I could.. I think I managed to finish this in a space of under 10 days. AMazing since I had procrastinated on that particular part of the whole project for 6 months and it seemed so totally overwhelming that I couldn’t see starting let alone finishing it. I think with our ADD traits we tend to take an all or nothing mentality and it keeps us from even starting anything.

As an aside, did you mean you are taking Vyvanse? I just started and am on day 3.

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

i like that idea, nellie. i tend to completely underestimate how long something might take me- thus become afraid to even begin . . . mapping it out on paper, great idea!!

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

nice to see success…….

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

Some good ideas there, sugar-gremlin. I laughed when you said “I have been toying with the idea of paying someone else to clean this because it is just ridiculous at this point” since I said that to my ADD husband a week ago.

We also have dust bunnies, clutter on the floor (and every other surface, can’t sit in chairs because of piles of paper), and yesterday we caught two nasty bugs, one was a cricket and the other a long-winged crawling insect thing – I think it’s because I have been moving my business out (lots of corrugated cartons) and disturbed their hiding places.

He says we won’t start cleaning until I’m fully moved out (for my business) so we can use the empty space for sorting. That makes sense. But I insisted last week that we clean the bathroom and kitchen floors thoroughly, and did the bathtub, sink & toilet too. Since we use those two rooms a lot, it really helped with my mental mood. So you might try just tackling one simple thing like that and see how it makes you feel to have it done. Those jobs don’t take long.

Once I set a timer for 15 minutes and we both attacked a room, one was dusting and the other decluttering. It didn’t clean up the whole room but it did make a small dent (which got cluttered again later). But the point is to spend 15 minutes doing it and nothing else, that’s manageable if you use a timer (set the stove timer). And try not to READ anything, just clean or move things to where they belong.

I also find it helps to treat myself when I accomplish something.

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

smftwo- I don’t do well with conferences. I just can’t retain anything being talked at for 3 days! I am usually just so so interested and try very hard to get the most I can, but will just retain very little afterwards. Just too much information too quickly.. maybe it is the crowds of people and bustle.. maybe it is just that I get so excited that my brain overheats and dies. I get extremely excited in the company of brilliant nurses lol. the amazing amount and diversity of information that each and every person brings to the table puts me into this “i want all of this knowledge” trance. Then I only retain pieces . then, I just don’t get myself to take the amount of notes I should >_<.

I do a lot better paying for the lectures individually and watching them gradually on the internet. (oh wait that is the NP stuff). For the APNA stuff, I read the emails and follow the forum. I’m good with reading things by myself. However, i completely miss out on networking. Although, I tend to make a weird impression on people if I am excited.

I also get really overwhelmed with the details of traveling. I need someone else to break it up for me, and then I’ll do it.

I wonder if this could change for me being medicated?

interesting…..

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

nellie,

day 3 of Vyvance for me I replied to the Vyvance post you wrote. It is just starting to kick in for me this morning/afternoon.

Thank you for sharing your basement project. I keep telling myself that if I spend an entire day, I can clean my house. However, the dread becomes more and more intense and I just can’t get myself to do it. So I suppose, this is a failed idea. I seriously have not cleaned my house since October . (except for dishes, laundry, periodic decluttering, throwing away trash).

I always underestimate time as well. Sometimes, as much as double! I would need to do a similar structured project of written things down.. ie. vacuum dust bunnies from bedroom. very broken down. However, right now, if I take too much on then I won’t do anything (evidenced over the years). My file folders is task one. I almost lost my professional license so I decided that it rates above all other household projects.

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

no dopamine. lol on the reading stuff. Every time I declutter, I pick up something and read it. because well.. best not to throw away something you haven’t read, right???? sometimes that is true, but I really need to put it in a special “to read” box or something because it derails/cuts short most of my attempted decluttering sessions.

When I lived here with my boyfriend, cleaning was a tad easier because we would do it together. (still put it off because I was a bad influence) but now having no accountability makes this near impossible for me. This cleaning thing is after my file folder project. Maybe I seriously will just pay someone to start me out? I just need to declutter it enough to be cleaned by someone else >_<. a timer is a good idea and would prove to me that cleaning a toilet.. takes very little actual time. *sigh* right now, I just need to think about file folders and forget that there is anything else!

thanks guys!!! I love posting on here. My friends and parents cannot understand my problem.. “if you don’t like it, just do it” >_<arg!

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

My mom always said that the best way to clean your house was to invite someone over (so you’d have to clean it).

When I first met my husband-to-be, he had a room in his 2 bedroom apartment that I wasn’t supposed to enter – it was where he quickly put things when people came over. Of course, he also likes to tell me that he lived a lot more simply back then, less clutter and it took less time to clean up. But I could say the same for me. The two of us have been together for about 24 yrs now and we have accumulated a lot more clutter!

sugar-gremlin, I agree, you need to focus on the one thing that gives you the biggest bang for your buck (or excites you enough to stick with it), and then go on to something else. BTW, my clutter IS my to-read stuff 😯

REPORT ABUSE

[nellie]

Sugargremlin, just responded to your other post on the meds.

No_dopamine and Sugargremlin,

As for house cleaning –

A couple of weeks ago I got an email newsletter from this ADD coach ( she uses it to promote her book) and her topic of the week was cleaning your house. I don’t know if she got the idea from the flylady or not, but it does sound similar. Anyway, the premise is to make a list of all the rooms you want to clean. Then set your timer for 10 minutes and clean the first one. When the timer rings move to the next one and don’t keep on in the room you were just working on. At first I was tempted to ignore that part but decided what the heck can’t be worse than it already was. So I actually did it the way suggested. Who knew, an hour later I had a pretty tidy house!

Sugargremlin, if you can afford to get someone to do the cleaning, do it. It will free you up to do other stuff. Except for the last month, I do normally have someone come in to do the actual cleaning part – just she has to work around my crazy disorganization!. So basically my clutter sits surrounded by nice clean floors and I’m confident we don’t have any strange airborne diseases floating around I figure it’s a task worth delegating or I’d never get any work done at all.

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

i went to my first conference just a few years ago. my husband hunts every fall; i decided i needed my own “get away.” thus the conference idea. there is some employer reimbursement, i need the continuing education, and i consider it my vacation. i was super excited for the first (only) one i went to (integrative mental health) because it’s my very favorite topic and there were some presenters that i totally admire. less excited about the speakers for this one, but that last one turned out GREAT for me! (i am very scattered, disorganized, i hate to travel, i had never travelled alone to be with a ton of people i didn’t know, etc . . . ) the nice thing about the conference concept is that once you’re there, you’re there. everything is right there. no worries about anything. tons of informaion, tons of people with similar interests, lots of stimulation (exhasuting) . . . they had even provided a huge book of all the speakers at the end. (so who cares if i didn’t write notes, or couldn’t remember what i heard . . . the information is swimming somewhere in my brain). it was totally inspiring and i’m going to say that people rarely “get me”- i think i’ve just learned to not care. (with the occassional meltdown). SO, consider going!!! find the airport nearest your house that goes nearest to the airport in anaheim (LAX is what i found). you have to register for the conference to get the conference hotel rate (so print out the registration, choose your classes, go online and complete the registration). there is a shuttle that goes from the airport to the hotel. everything then is just right there. voila. mini-vacation!!! (and you’d totally be able to find me, i’d be the one with the papers all over the place, trying to organize . . . .) (smile)

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

Nellie, I signed up for that newsletter too (coach in Montreal) – I find the newsletter tips useful and thought of trying the one you talked about. I agree, hiring someone (if you can afford it) to do the dirty work you can’t do is great, it will free you up for other stuff that’s more interesting or a better use of your time. If not, then doing a bit at a time every day is better than nothing, consistency (my weakness) is key to getting past the revolving clutter that keeps coming back.

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

smftwo- I looked into the conference. Right now, I’m obsessed with psychopharmacology, so I need to find those hours. The APNA records their conferences and can be accessed online! http://elearning.apna.org/cpi.php haha I know.. totally not the point of what you were saying lol. You are right that I should brave one again with my handy new ADD skills and would probably have a better experience. You know Arizona does not require continuing education for RNs. I get an AZ BON magazine which discussed that this is in contention. My stance is that RNs are professionals in an ever-changing field and should require continuing education (of course being compensated both financially and professionally for it!). Here, I think that is part of the contention. Nurses are often not respected as capable, knowledgeable professionals which is a giant waste to our self-destructing ailing health care system. ok..rant.. end

Nellie, that housecleaning method actually sounds like of terrible!!!! Maybe that is more for hyperactive ADHD? I could see myself diddling around organizing one pile, have the timer go off, lose my train of thought, look around in confusion, leave said pile unorganized, and flit to another place in the house >_<. what is the site for the ADD coaches? although, that idea sounds terrible to me, I’m sure that I would find something interesting. I know there is a video on this site to check out. I sort of tried, then got bored watching it lol.

no dopamine, I have both clutter and cleaning cleaning problems. My main necessity is the decluttering because I am losing stuff and not keeping proper check of my professional stuff would be disastrous. I have decided that once I finish with that, I will try and do the other cleaning, but hire someone and not beat myself up if I cannot.

thanks guys! I’m feeling really positive about moving my life forward in this aspect. I’m so ready to be done with that feeling like I am always one thread away from not functioning and keeping up with life.

today, I’m going to start tackling the file folder, but not beat myself up if I don’t finish.

REPORT ABUSE

[Author]

Posts