I noticed that there were some newspapers on the front of the counter, and touching behind them a vase. It suddenly occurred to me that if I accidentally bumped the newspapers they might knock over the vase which could break. I moved the papers.
Maybe this is a new strategy and maybe a new awareness, to notice danger spots before something does happen? I’ll watch and see if this keeps occurring. For those of us coping with ADD or ADHD, things do happen a lot.
doug 
“I moved the papers.” I’ve had to train myself to “move the papers”–or the glass of water teetering on the edge of the table, the Cheerios on the floor, or the nearly overflowing garbage. Sometimes I will see something that needs to be fixed or emptied or cleaned and I just don’t have the energy. Picking something up off the floor seems to be as difficult as scaling a forty foot wall with a hippopotamus strapped to my back. I find if I just do the task–if I remember to talk myself into it–I feel much better, much less encumbered. Silly how doing or not doing a ten-second task can affect the day, but that’s what happens. Whatever mess I avoid always gets worse later: the water spills all over, the Cheerios invite six-leggeds, or I bump into the garbage can and two inches of excess trash now cover the kitchen floor, taking me fifteen minutes to clean up.
that’s it. if we don’t do it now, it hangs over our head til we do and makes it harder to do anything else. And i share the clumsiness, so have trained myself to watch out for things about to get knocked off or over, or often my wife, who knows me pretty well, will notice it before i do.
thank you for this great description, i may use it in another blog unless you object.
is the lack of energy related to the sleep apnea or more a part of the ADD?
that’s a good question (is the lack of energy related to sleep apnea or ADD?). I would say both contribute. if i do not wear the mask or get too little sleep, then obviously i am tired–but if i have had plenty of sleep and forget to take adderall–heck, even sometimes if I *do* take the stimulant–and i have nothing scheduled, i become so understimulated that i have to fight sleepiness and lethargy. i think the anti-depressants i take also make me sleepy. Weekends are hard unless the days are structured. Otherwise, I have Viktor Frankl’s “Sunday neurosis.”
and lack of sleep makes our ADD symptoms worse.
you have identified four good strategies 1. wear the mask – it sounds important 2. make a strategy to remember the adderall (ex – keep it next to your toothbrush)
3. each evening, make a schedule for the next day 4. structure the weekends (ie schedule). (and the schedules need to include pleasurable things to look forward to)
you are probably already doing these?
thanks for your good comments, you are illustrating a lot of the concepts