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February 23, 2011 at 3:48 pm in reply to: totallyADD.com Crew………..We need to know CANADA or UNITED STATES #100032
I think my avatar gives people an idea where I live.
REPORT ABUSEThat is a great idea. Id be happy with a small support group in Bellevue, WA for the short term.
I also got a good laugh as I thought about 50K ADD/ADHD peeps in one place with all of our timers going off, and our phone reminders talking to us. and how insane the wait staff would be at the end of three days of herding us cats.
BTW, I’d be one of the first to sign up.
REPORT ABUSEtd,
All the time. I was routinely the target for several of the bullies at all my schools. I was the class dummy. By the time I got to high school, I had no friends, I sat in the back of the classroom, last to arrive, first to leave. There were only two images of me in the yearbooks. One in my first year and one in my senior year. Other than that. I was a shadow. That has carried with me, to this day, where I am slightly agrophobic and very reclusive.
REPORT ABUSEI am a sequential eater as well. Eating Chinese food or a potluck, is where my quirks are noticed. I put one thing on my plate. Finish it, and eat another. As a child it used to upset me, when my mom or grandma would dish everything onto my plate. Thanksgiving was the worst. Random thought (several actually): Most of those people are gone now, and the extended family no longer celebrates the holidays together… what I wouldn’t give to see them again!
REPORT ABUSEYes I use a wallet. I have one credit card, my Drivers License, and 20-30 in cash. I don’t carry insurance cards, library cards, or anything like that. In my case less is best.
REPORT ABUSEWell, Curly. It took a lot of fast talking, but when it came right down to it, there WAS no law against forgetting your car on a ferry. Since my employment has been so spotty, if they fined me $20, I’d have to borrow it from someone. I still had to pay for towing and had to pay for the impound lot. No jail time, but I am sure there is a note on my permanent record “idiot”
REPORT ABUSEMy personal worst.
Remember a couple years ago on the news? There was a car left on one of the ferries here in Seattle. This was shortly after 9/11 and people were still nervous about anything out of the ordinary.
I drove my car on the ferry, drove it off and went to work. I had the car so I could get to an appointment, and actually remembered the appointment. My book of lists helped. After the appointment I got onto the ferry, had to use the restroom, and rushed off the ferry to catch the buss home.
I was watching the news and they were talking about an abandoned car, which took that ferry out of commission, until they searched the car for a bomb. Then I watched them tow my car off the ferry on the news!
REPORT ABUSENice. I like that statement, but I am not on drugs, yet. So I have no basis for comparison.
For me it is like in that movie “The Matrix”. Bullet time. I find myself focusing on specific things and the whole world ceases to exist. The other day, a truck kicked up a rock and I could see it coming toward me. I was able to plot it’s trajectory, tap the brakes and watched it sail over the hood of the car, without striking my winshield. Time returned and everyone was trying to figure out why I had hit the brakes. Nobody saw the rock.
Too bad I can’t do that with baseballs.
REPORT ABUSEI forgot something… How do you know you are getting better at interviewing, and your resume is good to go? You start getting job offers instead of referrals. Is this a great world or what?!
REPORT ABUSEOne thing I picked up on was the “I pack everything under the sun”. For me, what works is a list. This way I pack all the clothes I will need for X many days. Then I try to make a list of things I want to do, and pack the stuff I will need for that.
I don’t take many trips, because of my work situation, but when I do, I am constantly de-railed by all of the new things. I have gotten lost, or lost my family, and wandered for hours trying to find them. Cell phones are wonderful. We also pick a landmark, and agree to meet there, if we get separated. Now I am not afraid of loosing my family in a crowd, which allows me to relax a little and… what was that word? “enjoy” myself.
The new sights, sounds, and smells overwhelm me sometimes. For that, I have found going back to the hotel room, drawing the curtains and doing something familiar in the quiet of the room helps calm me down. My wife taught me how to knit, so I do that, because I have to concentrate so hard on it. This allows me time to process everything. After that down time, I can go back out into the world.
REPORT ABUSEDaniel,
If you are married, your wife could be a great resource. If not, a friend.
I work on lists, so write lists to help you with the steps.
Next, look at a company near you who typically hires people with your skill set. Make an appointment with one of the managers. Don’t know one? No problem. Join Linkedin. Find someone. Make an appointment with them and let them know “I am not looking for a job, nor am I expecting you to find me a job. I am looking for advice on how to write an effective resume, that highlights my exceptional skills at <insert your career here>”
Most people want to help other people. Some people are jerks. You don’t want to work for them anyway. Come to the interview with your resume as it is or as good as you can get it. Go over it, and ask this person questions about the field. At the end of the interview (you are the one conducting it) ask this person to give you a couple referrals they have. These would be hiring managers of companies you want to work at, or who hire people with your skills.
At the interview, have a page with your strengths as a bulleted list. Explain to your new contact, these are the strengths you want to highlight and ask their advice on how to change your resume to do that.
Reinforce, the fact you are NOT going to ask them for a job, but ask them for advice with your job search. It takes the pressure off of them. They don’t have to find you a job, they just have to find someone who is helpful.
Write thank you notes and stay in contact with them.
I did this for several months, and after the last interview, the manager said “How would you like to work for this company?” I almost swallowed my tongue. I replied “Sir, That would be wonderful, can we meet some other time, to discuss it?”
The worst thing that can happen is this: Your network of contacts increases HUGELY. Your resume gets polished and critiqued. Your interview skills get practiced.
The best thing that can happen: You get a job.
This works for me, because all (Heh! Yea. all) is take good notes at the interviews and ask good questions. I find, I am more focused at interviews, because there aren’t many distractions…. OMG I had one interview where one of those stupid sea planes was landing in Lake Union. I pointed it out to the interviewer as a “how do you guys get any work done around here with that going on outside your window?” They weren’t impressed. Chalk one up for impulsive.
Good luck, and I hope this helps.
REPORT ABUSEWho am I to give advice?
All I can say is what I do.
1) I never reply all.
2) I never answer an Email with the first “Version” of a letter I write.
3) I edit, re-edit, and sometimes I have a trusted work-friend look at what I want to mail.
4) I read it again after waiting at least 30min. (I set a timer)
If it passes all of that, I close my eyes and with my heart in my throat, I hit “Reply”
Meetings are tough for me. Especially when we are trying to “Brainstorm” something. Yea right. I have a “brain-typhoon”, a “brain-hurricane”, “brain-tornado”. I only wish it were a brainstorm. In those meetings, I take notes and with the other 15 threads of thought say to myself “Keep your mouth shut… Keep your mouth shut…” and pray the clock is moving quickly.
Hope this helps.
REPORT ABUSEI’ve been thinking about sleep habits a lot. I get no real rest when I sleep. I feel as though I am semi-awake. I can direct my dreams, I can change my responses to situations, It is as though I am a third person me, directing the dream me through the dream.
My dreams are usually a series of quick scenes, where I am trying to get something done, or trying to get somewhere. I usually meet obsticles that limit my choices and potential for success, until I have neither. I wake up several times during the night, thoughts racing through my head. I am not the hero in these dreams, more like a twig being swept along in the rapids of a river. I don’t remember ever waking up with a sense of completion. Usually I wake up, trying to remember what it is I forgot to do. Not restful.
REPORT ABUSEMy wife and I call those “Red Green Moments”. You know the black and white section of the show where Rick and a few of the characters try to get something done and you just know it won’t end well?
My latest one was when I was trying to get to an appointment to meet with a friend of mine. I needed to turn in some papers and as usual I left them on the table. So I unlocked the front door set my keys down and went to get the papers. I locked the door and went to the car, which was also locked. My keys weren’t in my pocket so I did the macarena looking for my keys. Went to the front door, to find it was locked. I have done this routine before, so I am pretty good at breaking into my house and let myself in. I set the papers down, and went around the house, looking for the keys which I found on the stand, by the front door. I locked the door, got out to the car, and drove down the road about 200 yards before I remembered I forgot my papers. I drove back to the house and remembering I had already done the macarena looking for my keys, I put them in their proper place. Just as I found the papers, I got a call from the person I was supposed to meet, wondering where I was. I told him I was running a little late and I would be right there. Locked the door and went out to the car to discover my keys were not with me. Twice in one day and I hate the macarena. On my way to the house, I slipped on something and fell back hitting my head just hard enough to see stars. wobbled to let myself into the house, took a quick shower and changed my clothes because I was covered in mud. I then called my friend, told him I was having one of those days and 20 minutes later, he stopped by to grab the papers and hear my story. I was still looking for my keys, wallet, comb, cards and my book of lists when he rang the bell.
This is why I love the Red Green Show, and should apply for membership to the Possum Lodge.
REPORT ABUSEWhat drives me crazy, is I can hyperfocus on something, running down all the paths to the Nth degree. Once I am done, I can never recapture that level of attention on the same subject. My latest was writing up a story I had been thinking about. It was raining here in the Seattle area, and kind of chilly (I know. When IS’NT it). So I closed my self into my office and started to write. 120 pages later on Monday morning, I emerged, to get to work. I really want to finish the story, but I can’t even force myself to think about the story. So, it sits on my computer as yet another unfinished project.
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