Stop Procrastination Article - a Critique

Okay, so I found the following article on beating procrastination. It happened to be from the site I recommended a few days ago, Additude Magazine. Unfortunately, it does not start off well. The very first suggestion for beating procrastination was to "do something pleasant first." That is exactly how I get lost in my ADHD in the first place! When faced with trying to decide what to do first, I invariably opt for doing something totally unrelated, like surfing the internet. True, the article suggests setting a timer to limit the activity, but if I were able to do that, I wouldn't be looking for articles on beating procrastination to begin with.

The article next suggests creating a proper work environment. It does mention that the "proper" environment might be an unconventional one, such as having music play while you are working. I myself have found that sometimes white noise from a TV on a non-channel helps drown out the scattered thoughts running through my head. However, the article also suggests setting your own deadlines on projects to help those that function best under pressure. I am one of those people, and I can tell you that an artificial deadline never works. My mind knows the difference between a deadline I have imposed and a real deadline, and only the real deadline ever creates the hyperfocus necessary to stop my procrastination.

The article then says to eliminate negative self-talk. This is much easier said than done. Of course, eliminating this should be part of every ADHD sufferer's routine, but after years of conditioning, I am just used to talking down to myself. Unfortunately, the article spends no time discussing how to eliminate the negativity.

The last two steps - just get started and take one step at a time - are both good tips, but they don't go quite far enough. It is true (for me at least) that the best way to beat procrastination is just to take one small step on the project. But how do you do that? My suggestion is to take a sheet of paper and begin writing a list of the things you need to do on the project. Then break each item down into rediculously small tasks. For example, when I am stuck trying to clean a room, I write a list that includes "throw out trash." I then break it down into "throw out popsicle stick," "throw out old receipt," etc. That usually cures my procrastination.

To this list I would add one last suggestion. Once you have started, go only so far as the momentum carries you. Once you hit a stall, move on to another task and come back to this one later. You will have an easier time starting again with new momentum than you will trying to get momentum back now. In fact, I started writing this post right after doing some cleaning and hitting that stall. Now that I am finished writing, I will have dinner and get back to the cleanup. I have found I am more productive dividing my time like this than by doing it in one stretch.

As always, thoughts and opinions are welcome.

My Procrastination

Okay, this week my procrastination has been full bore. I have had major trouble with productivity. Even getting myself to look at my daily checklist has been hard. Any suggestions?

Question for the grammar nuts

I am a grammar nut, so this question is bugging me. Is it proper to use both e.g. and etc. in a sentence? In my last post, I had a sentence with the phrase, "e.g. Home, Office, Calls, Errands, etc." Does the "e.g." obviate the need for the "etc."? I have to know!!!

Checklists vs To Do Lists

To try and stay on task, I attempt to follow David Allen's Getting Things Done. The system isn't perfect, though. GTD emphasizes use of to do lists based on context, e.g. Home, Office, Calls, Errands, etc. However, Allen never discusses how to handle repetitive tasks. I have solved this with my Palm Centro by downloading a program called Checklist. I have a checklist for Daily Tasks and Weekly Tasks. For monthly tasks, I have 4 checklists, one for each week of the month. After all, I can't do all my monthly tasks in one weekend. Anyway, when I complete a task, I simply hit the checkmark. Unlike the programs that come with the Palm, Checklist gives me the option of seeing or not seeing the items already checked, and it's easy to clear the list each day so I can start over with my check-offs.

My Plan for Conquering Clutter

My favorite site for dealing with clutter is Flylady. She seems to have a great system in place, based on the principle of taking 'baby steps' toward resolving clutter. However, as great as it is, I cannot make the system work for me. The primary example is the 27 Fling Boogie. Flylady recommends taking three containers - one for give away, one for throw away and one for put away. You take them into one room or area and put nine items in each bin. When you are done, you throw away the stuff in the throw away container, you put the give away container in your car to be dropped off the next time you are out and about, and you put away the stuff in the put away container.

The problems I have with this system are as follows. First, our house is so cluttered that many items don't have a proper home. Thus, they cannot be put away. Second, it is hard to put away stuff in other rooms when those other rooms are extremely cluttered. Third, I have trouble deciding what to give away and what to throw away when the house is cluttered, particularly with toys. Our house is such a mess that the majority of toys are scattered in pieces across the house. If I come across part of a toy, I need to know if we have the rest of it. If not, I will throw it away. However, if we have the complete toy, then I can decide if we will keep it or not. I don't like to give away parts of toys. Yet since these things are scattered across several rooms, I won't know what is complete and what is not until ALL of the junk is picked up. Thus, I can't 'fling' many of the toys. This may or may not be a symptom of my ADHD.

So - here is my idea. I am going to take several dozen Avon boxes and just start packing the toys and other items in them. I'll still do 27 items at a time, but if it's not a throw away, it will go into the box. Another problem I have had with decluttering is kids getting into the boxes and pulling stuff out. To solve this, I will put packing tape around the boxes and put them in a storage area. Once I have sufficiently reduced the clutter, I will open the boxes and begin sorting, probably on a big white tarp in the backyard.

Any other thoughts or suggestions on this are welcome.

Freaking Out and ADHD/Asperger's

I have a son with Asperger's Syndrome. For those that don't know, it is an Autism Spectrum disorder. One of the signs of Asperger's is rigidity. People with Asperger's cannot handle when things do not happen just right. As an example, today my son wanted to make rock candy. We had bought unwaxed dental floss for this. Joseph put sugar water in a jar, tied a paper clip to the floss, and tried to hang the floss from a pencil, with the help of me and my wife. However, in his view the string was always too high or too low from where it should hang. He became very upset, stomping, screaming, going "waaaahhh!" out loud, even rolling around on the floor.

It is tough to console him when he gets like this. Telling him not to do it doesn't work, because he has little control over his emotions. Telling him to stop the experiment doesn't help either. I finally told him that I would do the experiment when I get home from class, and that, if I succeeded, I would then help him do it the way I did it. This calmed him down somewhat, but he was still upset.

I mention this because I identify with how he is feeling. In fact, I have had those feelings before. I remember one time as a kid when I went to a party. I got lost along the way (it was at night in an unfamiliar area) and I started freaking out. Every muscle in my body felt like it was exploding with energy needing to be released. I stopped at a house, sobbing my head off, crying about how I was lost. I ended up using their phone and getting directions, and I made it to the party, but I was embarrassed about how I lost control. Though I don't cry or thrash about anymore, I still have times where something is going wrong and I feel like I need to do so.

I'm pretty certain I don't have Asperger's Syndrome or an Autism Spectrum disorder. This leaves me wondering whether my son also has ADHD and this is an ADHD trait, or whether it's a trait both people with ADHD and people with Asperger's share. I also have yet to find discussions about this type of reaction. Any thoughts on the subject are welcome.

A Comprehensive ADD Site

ADDitude Mag is a pretty good site, with blogs and articles containing life stories, tips and tricks to help you deal with your ADD/ADHD. I have just started looking at it myself, but I am very impressed. The only problem is that it did not show up when I did a general search for ADD blogs before starting my own. Instead, it showed up when I searched "moleskine adhd."

A Good Reason to Get Diagnosed....

I've heard several people say that they believe they have ADD but do not plan on seeking a diagnosis. There are many good reasons to get a doctor's say, but one you may not have considered is - FREE MONEY!

After my ADD/ADHD killed my law practice and cost me my license, I had to look for another line of work. The problem is that I had no money to pay for new training. Fortunately, I visited with Nebraska Vocational Rehabilitation. Turns out that I qualified as disabled for purposes of receiving funding for career training. Qualifying wasn't that hard, either. They went off of my therapist's and physician's opinions. Now, granted, my ADHD is pretty severe, if I do say so myself, but the point is that I didn't have to jump through a bunch of hoops like I would with, say, Social Security Disability. Instead, once they had confirmation of my diagnosis, they put me on the planning track. I chose computer training and received over $4,000 toward obtaining my Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator certification (the school scholarshiped the remaining funds). The lesson is that a diagnosis can serve many useful purposes and open doors you hadn't considered. So get to your doctor pronto!

Symptoms of adult ADHD, part II

From The Disorganized Mind, Dr. John J. Ratey lists the following as common symptoms of adult ADHD (must be persistent):

Trouble starting and finishing projects
Trouble organizing steps in a project, paper, letter, home, office
Trouble with memory - worry about Alzheimer's since the teen years; misplacing things, pirouette sign (coming back again and again for something you forgot)
World-class procrastination
Internal feeling of being antsy, squirming, restless legs syndrome all throughout body
Difficulty focusing, paying attention during a conversation, attending lecture, watching movie or reading a book
Impatient to a fault; finishing other people's sentences for them, drawing rapid conclusions, or breaking into conversations; episodes of road rage or extreme temper
Distractibility; spacing out

Symptoms of ADHD

Someone asked me what are the symptoms of ADHD. There are so many it is hard to list them all. Instead, I quoted him the list given in 10 Simple Solutions to Adult ADD. Symptoms include:

having mood swings
abusing substances
putting too many activities on your schedule
making a lot of to-do lists and never using them
getting lots of speeding tickets
having feelings of not living up to your potential
chronically procrastinating
impulsively taking risks
having difficulties finishing projects
frequently losing items
having a quick temper
having problems with organization
having a series of marriages
impulsively quitting jobs
changing jobs frequently
lacking friends
having difficulties managing money
having low self-esteem
being underemployed (working below your ability)
disliking traffic so much that you will drive out of your way to avoid it
interrupting people

ADHD is not a lack of attention. Rather it is trying to pay attention to too many things at once and thus failing at all of them.